Events and festivals in Niedersachsen on the weekend of September 19 and 20, 2026: the Diepholz market opens for its 646th edition, while in Wolfenbüttel around 160 artists take over the biennial Night of Culture.
646 years of market tradition, one single weekend. In Diepholz, the market opens its gates on September 19 and 20, 2026. Events and festivals in Niedersachsen on the weekend of September 19 and 20, 2026: the Diepholz market opens for its 646th edition, while in Wolfenbüttel around 160 artists take over the biennial Night of Culture.
The Diepholz market marks its 646th edition
The Diepholz market ranks among the oldest and largest folk festivals in Niedersachsen. In 2026, the tradition reaches its 646th edition. Its history goes back to the late Middle Ages, and every year in September the market returns to the Rathausmarkt in downtown Diepholz.
From September 17 to 20, 2026, the festival grounds open their gates. Across roughly 30,000 square metres, 210 exhibitors gather around the historic Rathausmarkt, right in the town centre.
More than 90,000 visitors come to the Diepholz market every year. They spread across the four market days between Thursday and Sunday, filling the streets and lanes around the Rathausmarkt.
On Saturday, September 19, and Sunday, September 20, 2026, the 646th edition runs its final two days. Afterward, the Rathausmarkt returns to its ordinary routine, until next year's edition.
The rest of the weekend
In Wolfenbüttel, the town centre turns into Wolfenbüttel's Night of Culture on Saturday, held every two years on the third September Saturday, with around 160 artists performing at more than 50 venues across the Lessing town, spanning music, theatre, readings, guided tours and dance. On Sunday, the Wolfenbüttel city run holds its 40th edition through the same historic centre; organised by MTV Wolfenbüttel e.V., it offers routes for casual runners as well as ambitious athletes, and its 40-year tradition makes it one of the defining running events of the town.
In Hameln, the amateur theatre group performs one of Germany's best-known open-air shows, the Pied Piper open-air play, on Sunday, in its 70th anniversary year, staging the legend free of charge, a roughly 30-minute performance with actors in costume on the Hochzeitshaus terrace, followed by a procession. The Katharinenmarkt in Hoya, one of the most traditional and beautiful medieval markets in northern Germany, turns the historic old town into a medieval marketplace on the third September weekend for the 34th time, with merchants in period costume and craft demonstrations along the Lange Straße.
Around 70 fairground operators fill the Emden Schützenfest and folk festival, one of the oldest and most traditional festivals of the port city, running from September 18 to 22 and turning the Schützenplatz on Auricher Straße into a fairground with carousels, bumper cars and a ghost train. In Hannover, Team Sweden, one of Europe's most established pyrotechnic nations, competes in the fifth and final night of the 34th international fireworks competition in the Herrenhausen Gardens, under the theme Dance of Northern Lights.
In Osnabrück, the band Giant Rooks headlines the third Campus Festival Osnabrück at Halle Gartlage on Saturday evening, after a support line-up from 2:45 pm featuring Disarstar, BLOND, Tiefbasskommando, Kasi, PaulWetz and Fayan. The Oldenburg International Film Festival, one of Germany's most significant festivals for independent cinema, runs through Sunday for its 33rd edition, a non-competitive showcase with international ambition held every September, featuring films from around the world and several German and European premieres. In Delmenhorst, the second Christopher Street Day parade sets off at 3 pm from the Rathausplatz and marches through the town centre, followed by a rally with music, art actions and speeches.
After the final competition night, the jury in Hannover crowns the season winner of the 34th fireworks competition.