Events and festivals in Bavaria on 7 and 8 November 2026, from Landshut and Augsburg to Lindau and Schwabach. On Sunday in Inchenhofen, Bavaria's oldest Leonhardi ride takes about 200 horses three times around the market.
At half past nine, the pontifical mass begins at the pilgrimage church of St. Leonhard. On Sunday, 8 November 2026, it opens the festival day of the Leonhardiritt. On Sunday in Inchenhofen, Bavaria's oldest Leonhardi ride takes about 200 horses three times around the market.
Bavaria's oldest Leonhardi ride
The Leonhardiritt in Inchenhofen goes back to 1459, when the Fürstenfeld Cistercian abbot Paul Herzmann introduced it. Inchenhofen, in the district of Aichach-Friedberg, was a major pilgrimage site for Saint Leonhard, patron of farmers and livestock, in the late Middle Ages.
The day follows a fixed order. After the pontifical mass at 9:30 am, the ride sets off early in the afternoon, and about 200 decorated horses, several bands and costume groups from the Wittelsbacher Land circle the market square three times.
The blessing of the horses takes place in front of the pilgrimage church.
Historic floats show scenes from the life of Saint Leonhard and from farming tradition as living pictures, and a festive service and a guided tour of the church close the official programme.
The late Gothic hall church, finished between 1450 and 1457, is the centre of a pilgrimage documented since the 13th century. Votive tablets, iron chains and offerings inside still recall it. The Leonhardi festival is, after the Whitsun pilgrimage, the second great feast of the Brotherhood of Saint Leonhard.
Admission is free, and a collection for the upkeep of the pilgrimage church and the tradition is welcome.
Games, books, concerts and markets
The SPIELWIESN spreads about 2,200 game stations over 14,500 square metres of the Augsburg trade fair grounds on Saturday and Sunday, with a library of more than 3,000 titles open for play. In 2025 it counted 16,500 visitors. The same fair hosts AugsBuch on Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 10 am to 5 pm: more than 100 authors, publishers and service providers exhibit, and over 40 readings run in three halls.
In Landshut, the Nacht der Blauen Wunder sends visitors through about 30 pubs between Hauptstrasse and Trausnitz Castle on a single wristband. Rock, jazz, pop, blues and singer-songwriters play live, and each concert starts on the half hour and lasts thirty minutes.
The Ingolstädter Jazztage open their festival week on Saturday and run until 14 November, and since 2024 they have been led artistically by the drummer Wolfgang Haffner. In Schwabach, LesArt starts the same day and brings contemporary literature to Franconia until 15 November and celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2026.
On the island of Lindau, the Lindauer Jahrmarkt runs with about 140 merchants and 60 showmen, and the Ferris wheel looks out on the Bavarian lion and the lighthouse. On Sunday, 8 November, shops are open from 12 to 5 pm.
Sunday before Martinmas: in the Rhön, Oberelsbach then celebrates its church fair with a year and pigeon market. The town received its market rights in 1726 from the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Christoph Franz von Hutten.
The Martinimarkt in Roßtal spreads over the market square, Schulstraße, Rathausgasse and the Spitzweed barn from 10 am to 7 pm on both days, and on Sunday the Pulzermärtl hands out sweets to the children. In Pappenheim, the stalls of the Pelzmärtelmarkt line the lanes below the castle, and its name goes back to the Pelzmärtel, a Franconian figure related to Saint Nicholas.
In Inchenhofen the town centre is closed on ride Sunday, and parking is signposted on the edge of town.