Events in Bavaria on October 31 and November 1, 2026, from Bamberg and Nuremberg to Rothenburg and Kempten. The Bamberg Totentanz puts more than 100 residents on stage at the Domplatz.
Doors open at 2:30 p.m. On the Domplatz in Bamberg, the Totentanz runs through Sunday, November 1, a walking theatre with more than 100 residents of the city on stage. Events in Bavaria on October 31 and November 1, 2026, from Bamberg and Nuremberg to Rothenburg and Kempten.
The Bamberg Totentanz on the Domplatz
The Bamberg Totentanz is one of the most ambitious community theatre projects in Bavaria, and on Saturday, 31 October 2026, it is on the programme. Spectators follow Death through ten stations on the Domplatz and in the Alte Hofhaltung.
Felix D'Angelo plays Death. Along the way visitors meet Emperor Henry II, Otto of Wittelsbach, Agnes Schwanfelder and Lothar Franz von Schönborn. The piece follows the tradition of medieval dances of death, but it is not a moral warning. It deals with mortality, history and a city's identity in a political, philosophical and sometimes humorous way.
There are no professional actors on stage. Pupils of the Franz-Ludwig-Gymnasium research the city's history, and senior citizens play historical figures.
The association AGIL e.V. stages the Totentanz every two years. In 2024 the text came from Tanja Kinkel; for 2026 Dr. Martin Beyer takes over, Nina Lorenz directs, and the music is by Jochen Neurath. The focus is the last 125 years of Bamberg history. The theatre project becomes a festival with exhibitions, readings, concerts and guided city tours across the whole town.
Performances start at 3:00 p.m. each day. Tickets are sold online, and the organisers recommend sturdy shoes.
Fairs, markets and church fairs from Rothenburg to Augsburg
In Rothenburg ob der Tauber, the Rothenburger Herbstmesse opens on the Schrannenplatz on 31 October 2026, with a traders' market, rides for children and families, and the first mulled wine of the season. Market stalls are open from about 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., the rides from noon to 8 p.m. In the village centre of Diebach, in the Ansbach district, people celebrate the Kirchweih Diebach around All Saints' Day, on Saturday and Sunday, with festival beer, Schäuferla and bratwurst.
The Würzburger Allerheiligenmesse goes back to 1227. It fills the Upper and Lower Market with stalls selling wickerwork, pottery and warm socks, from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Because of the clay jugs, locals call it Häfelesmess.
On the Königsplatz in Kempten the Kathreinemarkt ends on Saturday, with dodgems, a children's carousel and stalls, daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Abtswinder Weinfest in the Steigerwald village of Abtswind invites guests into its heated tent on Saturday from 5 p.m.
The Consumenta starts on Saturday at the Nuremberg exhibition centre. More than 1,000 exhibitors fill nine halls on about 80,000 square metres with products for home, building, household, hobby, health and food, daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The fair has run since 1952, and around 123,000 visitors come each year. Also in Nuremberg, the Linke Literaturmesse brings more than 30 publishers and over 50 book presentations and readings to the Künstlerhaus in the KunstKulturQuartier, with free admission.
In Augsburg, lab.30 shows 16 installations at the Kulturhaus abraxas under the motto “fragile future”, plus concerts in St. Thaddäus church and at KARO10.
On Sunday, 1 November, the JOSKA Christmas Land opens in Bodenmais in the Bavarian Forest, with an 8-metre Christmas tree made of wine glasses and 550 baubles. It runs until 31 December, open daily, with free admission.