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It’s sad to think that we are already halfway through the summer. Pretty soon the leaves will change, the temperatures will drop and we’ll see the sun less and less. But don’t throw the towel in just yet. There’s still plenty of time to enjoy the last few months of summer and plenty to look forward to! Festival season is right around the corner and what better way to get started than to visit some of the best beer and wine festivals Germany has to offer.
BEER festivals
July – September: Bierboerse
MULTIPLE CITIES
This moving German beer festival was created more than 30 years ago. Originally established as a local summer festival, it now travels to more than 20 cities that are mainly located in the Rheinland area. For more information and dates for one closest to you, visit www.bierboerse.com/veranstaltungstermine.htm.
July 29 – July 31: Benrather Bierboerse
DUESSELDORF-BENRATH
Tens of thousands of visitors will attend this 25-year-old beer festival, the second oldest event of its kind in Germany. With 55 beer and food stalls, visitors can taste nearly 700 different beers while sitting in the cozy beer gardens. For more information, visit www.bierboerse.com/city/duesseldorf-benrath.htm.
Aug. 5 – Aug. 7: Berlin International Beer Festival
BERLIN
Approximately 320 brewers from 86 countries are expected to be present with about 2,000 beer varieties for this festival’s 20th anniversary. For more information, visit www.bierfestival-berlin.de.
Sept. 23 – Oct. 9: Cannstatter Volksfest
STUTTGART
This annual beer festival is the second largest after Oktoberfest, attracting millions of visitors. Lasting for 17 days, large beer tents sponsored by various breweries offer more than 5,000 seats for patrons. For more information, visit www.cannstatter-volksfest.de.
Sept. 17 – Oct. 3: Oktoberfest
MUNICH
It all started with a royal wedding and ended with the most famous beer festival in Europe. If you want to go, plan early and make reservations. It fills up fast! For more information, visit www.oktoberfest.de/en.
Sept. 23 – Oct. 16: Oktoberfest
BERLIN
Can’t make it to Bavaria? You still have time to go north. This festival is held annually at Zentral Festplatz, just outside the city center. For more information, visit www.berliner-festplatz.de.
Wine festivals
Aug. 17 – Aug. 21: Rothenburg Weindorf
ROTHENBURG ob der TAUBER
This annual festival gives visitors the opportunity to try more than 70 different Franconian wines. Music, food and a variety of vendors will be available for patrons. For more information, visit www.bavaria.by/beer-wine-festivals-events-bavaria.
Aug. 18 – Aug. 22: Ruedesheim Wine Festival
RUEDESHEIM
Ruedesheim hospitality and wine culture at its best. You’ll find fine rieslings and fruity pinot noirs coupled with live music, fine food and high spirits in abundance in Ruedesheim’s market square. For more information, visit www.ruedesheim.de/en/events/highlights-20162017.
Aug. 19 – Aug. 21: Weinfest der Mittelmosel
BERNKASTEL-KUES
Attracting more than 200,000 visitors, this wine festival provides patrons with brilliant fireworks and pageants along with its delicious local Mosel-region wines. For more information, visit www.mosellandtouristik.de/en/culture-events/wine-festivals.
Aug. 24 – Sept. 4: Stuttgarter Weindorf
STUTTGART
This unique wine festival has been held for more than 40 years in Stuttgart, attracting millions of people from all over the world. For more information, visit www.stuttgarter-weindorf.de.
Aug. 25 – Aug. 28 and Sept. 1 – Sept. 4: Mainzer Wein Markt
MAINZ
This cozy and relaxing wine festival takes place in the Stadtpark of Mainz. The festival offers two weekends of wine tasting with more than 100 stands serving local wines and delicacies. For more information, visit www.mainzer-weinmarkt.de.
Aug. 31 – Sept. 9: Rheingau Wine Festival
FRANKFURT
Wine enthusiasts, this one’s for you! Rheingau vintners offer several hundred wines and sparkling wines from more than 30 vintner stands. For more information, visit: www.frankfurt-tourismus.de/rhg_weinmarkt.
Sept. 9 – Sept. 13 and Sept. 16 – Sept. 19: Duerkheimer Wurstmarkt
BAD DUERKHEIM
Duerkheim Wurstmarkt is one of the oldest and largest wine festivals in the world — think Munich Oktoberfest but with wine. Guests can sample more than 150 different wines at more than 50 different venues during the 600th year of this festival. For more information, visit www.duerkheimer-wurstmarkt.de.
