Upcoming Holidays and Festivals in Germany
- Before planning a trip around a festival, verify the festival dates on the festival's website or with a local tourist information office. For more information about these and other events, visit the official tourism site for Germany.
- This list includes major festivals in major cities, plus national holidays observed throughout Germany. Many sights and banks close down on national holidays — keep it in mind when planning your itinerary. Note that this isn't a complete list; holidays can strike without warning.
- See upcoming holidays and festivals across Europe
2024
January 1: New Year's Day (closures)
Through mid-January: Christmas Garden light shows in Berlin, Dresden, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hannover, Koblenz, Münster, Stuttgart
January 6: Epiphany (Heilige Drei Könige, volunteers dressed as Three Kings go door-to-door caroling and collecting for charity; some closures)
January 26–February 4: CTM Festival, Berlin (electronic / experimental music and art)
January 28–February 4: Hot-Air Balloon Festival, Lake Tegern (east of Oberammergau, in Bavaria)
February–March: Fasching/Fastnacht/Karneval, primarily in southern regions and Cologne (carnival season — parties and parades in the days leading up to Ash Wednesday; Cologne's huge Rosenmontag parade is February 12)
February 15–25: Berlin International Film Festival (a.k.a. "Berlinale")
March 21–April 14: Thuringian Bach Weeks, Erfurt
March 29: Good Friday (Karfreitag; closures)
March 30–April 14: Spring Festival, Nürnberg (rides and costumes in Luitpoldhain park)
March 31 & April 1: Easter (Ostern) Sunday and Monday (closures)
April 19–May 5: Spring Festival, Munich (Frühlingsfestival, the "little sister of Oktoberfest")
May 1: May Day (maypole dances in rural areas, labor demonstrations and street festivals in Berlin's Kreuzberg district, closures)
May 4: Rhine in Flames festival, Bonn (fireworks; nearby Rhine towns host Rhine in Flames later in the year)
May 9: Ascension Day (Christi Himmelfahrt; closures)
May 9–12: Hafengeburtstag (harbor's birthday), Hamburg (giant maritime festival)
May 9–June 9: Dresden Music Festival (classical music performances)
May 11–18: Green Sauce Festival, Frankfurt (street music, green-sauce sampling)
May 12–19: International Dixieland Festival, Dresden
May 17–20: Carnival of Cultures, Berlin (street parade on Sunday)
May 17–20: Meistertrunk Show, Rothenburg (historic play and market, medieval costumes, Biergarten parties)
May 19 & 20: Pentecost (Pfingsten) and Whit Monday (Pfingstmontag; maypole dancing and flower-bedecked cattle in some rural areas, closures)
May 22–31: Fressgass' Fest, Frankfurt
May 24–June 9: Handel Festival, Halle
May 24–June 23: Mozartfest, Würzburg
May 29–June 9: Weindorf wine festival, Würzburg
May 30: Corpus Christi (Fronleichnam; processions — particularly in Bavaria, flower carpets — particularly in rural Baden-Württemberg, closures across southern and western Germany)
June 7–8: Elbjazz, Hamburg
June 7–9: Rock am Ring rock festival, Nürburg (near Koblenz — not to be confused with Nürnberg)
June 7–16: Bach Festival, Leipzig
June 11–13: Melt Festival, Gräfenhainichen (electronic music and indie rock, near Wittenberg)
June 13–29: St. Katharina Open air, Nürnberg (concert series of eclectic acts in the Old Town)
June 14–16: Luther's Wedding festival, Wittenberg
June 21–July 21: Tollwood Summer Festival, Munich (concert series, art, street theater)
Mid-June (3 days; iffy): Stadtteilfest Bunte Republik Neustadt, Dresden (huge counter-cultural block party celebrating the Outer New Town's tongue-in-cheek status as an independent republic)
June 21–23: Traumzeit Music Festival, Duisburg (eclectic line-up staged in a former industrial site)
June 22–30: Kieler Woche, Kiel (world's largest sailing festival, featuring historical-ship parades and cultural events in the city center)
June 26–30: Fusion Festival, Neustrelitz (Burning Man–esque counterculture free-for-all held on the grounds of a former airfield north of Berlin)
June 27–30: Oberlindenhock, Freiburg (street food, live music)
June 28–30: Elbhangfest, Dresden (music, dance, wine)
July 4–9: Freiburg Wine Festival (local wines, live music)
July 5–21: Kiliani Volksfest, Würzburg (county fair–type folk festival)
July 6: Rhine in Flames festival, Bingen / Rüdesheim (fireworks)
July 12–21: Kinderzeche, Dinkelsbühl (traditional dancing, parades)
Weekends July 12–28: Kaltenberg Knights' Tournament (huge jousting festival, near Munich)
July 19–July 21: Cologne Pride Street Festival
July 21 & August 3: Klassik Open Air, Nürnberg (series of free classical concerts and fireworks in Luitpoldhain park)
July 26–August 11: Sommerwerft, Frankfurt (theatre and arts festival)
July 26–28: Bardentreffen Nürnberg (world music festival)
July 27: Berlin Pride (a.k.a. Christopher Street Day Berlin)
August 9–10: Potsdamer Schössernacht (Potsdam's palaces lit up, nighttime performances in the gardens, midnight fireworks over Sanssouci both nights)
August 10: Rhine in Flames festival, Koblenz (fireworks)
August 14–18: Weindorf wine festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber
August 15: Assumption (Mariä Himmelfahrt; closures in Bavaria and Saarland)
August 22–24 (likely): Castle Beats, St. Goar (EDM concert series at Rheinfels Castle)
August 22–26: Sandkerwa Bavarian folk festival, Bamberg
August 22–26: Wine festival, Cochem
August 23–25: Museumsuferfest, Frankfurt (music, food, culture)
August 23–September 8: Nürnberg Fall Folk Festival (costumes, rides in Luitpoldhain park)
August 24: Long Night of Museums, Berlin (most museums open until 2 a.m., with one-off installations and performances)
August 28–September 6: Rheingau Wine Festival, Frankfurt
August 30–September 8: Berlin Beer Week
September 5–14: International Literature Festival Berlin
September 6–8: Reichsstadt Festival, Rothenburg ob der Tauber (extra big in 2024 for 750th anniversary, with events held throughout the year)
September 6–8: Medieval festival, Selb (on the Czech border, northeast of Nürnberg)
September 6–10 & 13–16: Wurstmarkt, Bad Dürkheim (world's biggest wine festival, near Heidelberg)
September 14: Rhine in Flames festival, Oberwesel (fireworks)
September 21: Rhine in Flames festival, St. Goar (fireworks)
September 21–October 6: Oktoberfest, Munich (a.k.a. Wies'n)
Mid-September–early October: Berliner Oktoberfest
September 26–October 5: Filmfest Hamburg
September 27–October 13: Cannstatter Volksfest (Oktoberfest in Stuttgart)
September 27–October 14: Wine harvest festival, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse
October 3: German Unity Day (Tag der Deutschen Einheit; closures)
October 4–13: Berlin Festival of Lights (light installations on landmark buildings)
October 11–13: Onion Market festival, Weimar
October 16–20: Frankfurter Buchmesse (huge book fair and publishers' convention)
October 18–November 1 (likely): Frankenstein Halloween, Königstein Castle (southeast of Dresden)
October 30–November 3: Jazzfest Berlin
October 31: Reformation Day celebration, Wittenberg (and closures in some Protestant areas)
November 1: All Saints' Day (Allerheiligen, closures in southern and western Germany)
November 6: Leonhardifahrt, Bad Tölz (traditional Bavarian religious procession in spa town south of Munich)
November 9: Night of Broken Glass Remembrance Day; anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (remembrances, but no closures)
November 11: Martinstag (St. Martin's Day) and official start to Karneval season (colorful costumes and revelry in Cologne)
Mid-November–mid-January 2025: Christmas Garden (light show held in gardens and parks in many cities, including Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Leipzig, and Mainau Island on Lake Constance)
November 22: Repentance Day (closures in Saxony)
November 23–December 31 (but closed Nov 26 for Totensonntag): Tollwood Winter Festival, Munich (music, circus, and cultural events performed on Oktoberfest fairgrounds, plus Christmas market until December 23)
December: Christmas markets throughout Germany, particularly in Nürnberg, Munich, Rothenburg, and Freiburg, and Berlin
December 6: Nikolaustag (St. Nicholas Day; St. Nick, often with companion in tow, often seen around town on evening prior)
December 24: Christmas Eve (Der Heilige Abend; Germans decorate trees and open presents, shops close at noon)
December 25: Christmas Day (closures)
December 26: Boxing Day (closures)
December 31: New Year's Eve (Silvester; fireworks, particularly big in Berlin)