Looking for an authentic wine festival experience in Germany? Authentic as in: very popular with the locals, with plenty of regional German food, and even more local wine – obviously from the related wine region?
Now, listing all wine fests in Germany would make a list of about a hundred or more wine events given that almost every wine village in Germany celebrates the grape at least once a year. To make things easy, we narrowed it down for you to three wine fests that are the most popular, and most easy to attend. (In case you are looking for the best wine tasting events 2024 on a more focused wine level check out the BottleStops blog post here.)
Rheingauer Weinwoche 2024
August 9-18, 2024 in Wiesbaden (Rheingau wine region)
Dubbed the longest wine bar in Germany, the Rheingauer Weinwoche brings together many of the Rheingau wineries – in the city center of Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden, being a spa and casino city loves to celebrate the noble things in life and with that, feel free to dress up a notch for this wine fest. There will be over a hundred wine and food stalls, amongst them some of the leading wineries located right on the market square and nearby.
This is easy to attend from: Wiesbaden – there are plenty of hotels around. Wiesbaden is also well connected by train to Frankfurt and Mainz.
Mainzer Weinmarkt
August 29-September 1, and September 5-8, 2024 in Mainz (Rheinhessen wine region)
Think of the Mainzer Weinmarkt as a gigantic wine-picknick, located in the Great Wine Capital’s lush hillside parc, just off the historic town center. Arrive early to enjoy the sunset with life music, a glass of local sparkling, the arts-and-crafts market, and freshly prepared street-food specialties… and stay on into the night as the party builds up from a family hangout to a wine party with the locals crowding the wine stalls and favourite bands taking the stages. Expect wineries mostly from Rheinhessen, but with Mainz being part of the Great Wine Capital network, the Weinmarkt also hosts international wineries. This is easy to attend from: Mainz – hotels are nearby; Frankfurt and Wiesbaden – public transport with inexpensive and frequent commuter trains is right at the festival gates.
Wurstmarkt Bad Dürkheim
September 6 – 10 and 13-16, 2024 in Bad Dürkheim (Pfalz wine region)
The equivalent to the Oktoberfest in Munich – but wine themed. If you want it all in one go: 500 years tradition, a wine carnival with countless food and wine stalls, as well as a craft market, and plenty of joy rides, this is it – the ‘Wurstmarkt – Sausage Market’ (historically known as Michaelis Markt, St Michaels Market) of Bad Dürkheim in the wine region of Pfalz. There is no shortage in superlatives, at the biggest wine festival in the world, located around the biggest wine barrel in the world…
Set up base in Bad Dürkheim or one of the wine villages nearby – book one of the many BnB’s, or travel from Mannheim or Ludwigshafen.
Should you need help to prepare your wine tour or your trip to Germany: At BottleStops we are delighted to help you with setting up your itinerary – contact us anytime.
