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Otterberg will celebrate its first children’s festival in combination with its May carnival Sunday. Stores will also open from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Local stores that are members of the Otterberg advertising association and the local tourist information office will sponsor the event.
The main road going through the village, Hauptstrasse, will turn into an activity zone for children and will be closed to motorized traffic from the town hall to the upper traffic circle. Children can participate in games and crafting, ride on a merry-go-round, have their faces painted, take a guided tour of the Abbey Church and watch a magician.
“Usually, our special Sunday shopping days are for adults with nothing special going on for children,” said Brigitte Störtz from the advertising association. “That’s why we had the idea of organizing a children’s festival this time.”
Also in the past, organizers presented a car show every two years on Hauptstrasse during May carnival. If this children’s festival proves to be successful, they will continue to have the children’s festival one year, and the car show the next year.
On Sunday, about 60 stores, restaurant owners, clubs, kindergartens and schools will present who they are and what they have to offer, focusing on children and youth. Otterberg’s town hall (Verbandsgemeindeverwaltung) will also open its doors.
An entertaining program with musical performances will be presented on Kirchplatz in front of the Abbey Church, where visitors will be able to taste a variety of food specialties.
Otterberg is a medieval town located in the center of the “Pfälzerwald,” Palatinate Forest, 10 kilometers north of Kaiserslautern. One of the town’s most interesting sights is the Abbey Church. Monks started construction of a monastery with the church at the bottom of Otterburg Castle in 1168. The Abbey Church was consecrated in 1254. In the 18th century, Catholics were permitted to share the church with Protestants, but they were separated by a wall dividing the church into two halves. During renovations in the 1980s, the wall was broken down.
In 1991, renovation was finished and the church was consecrated by the two denominations. Today, it is a joint place of worship, used by Catholics and Protestants.
While walking through the old part of town, visitors can discover various fascinating framework buildings as well as parts of the well-kept town wall.
