On the weekend of October 3 and 4, 2026, Ingelheim marks the 80th edition of its red wine festival, while a pottery market, a cathedral concert and several harvest fairs animate Rhineland-Palatinate.
Ingelheim hosts its largest wine festival. Over the nine festival days, from September 26 to October 4, hundreds of thousands of visitors come to the Burgkirche festival ground in historic Ober-Ingelheim. The Ingelheim Red Wine Festival celebrates its 80th edition this year, while a European pottery market, a cathedral concert in Trier and several wine and harvest festivals fill the holiday weekend across Rhineland-Palatinate.
The 80th edition of the Ingelheim Red Wine Festival
Held since 1947, the Ingelheim Red Wine Festival is the largest and oldest wine festival in Rhenish Hesse. It reaches its 80th edition in 2026. The city marks the anniversary with free admission. The event is run by IkUM Ingelheim together with the city of Ingelheim am Rhein.
Over nine days, from September 26 to October 4, the Burgkirche festival ground in historic Ober-Ingelheim turns into a showcase for Spätburgunder, the region's signature red grape. Legend has it that Charlemagne himself encouraged the planting of Burgundy varieties on the Rhine slopes, from his nearby imperial palace. Alongside Spätburgunder and Frühburgunder, growers also pour Weißburgunder, Riesling and sparkling wine.
A fun fair area rounds out the festival ground.
Wine stands, live music stages and food stalls line the ground in front of the Romanesque Burgkirche and its 14th-century surrounding wall. On 3-4 October 2026, the anniversary festival reaches its final stretch, the last two of its nine days.
Wine, fairs and art across the state
In Koblenz, the Koblenz Oktoberfest opens again on Saturday, October 3, one of the largest Oktoberfest events in the state, held every Friday and Saturday from mid-September to mid-October. Pork knuckle, pretzels and beer mugs fill the Bavarian-style tents on the exhibition grounds. In Braubach, the traditional wine festival below Marksburg castle marks its 100th anniversary, opening Friday evening with the band Revolution Breakdown, followed by a wine fountain and a torchlight procession. In Bad Neuenahr, the funfair turns the City-Ost car park into the Ahr district's largest festival mile, opened by the mayor's traditional keg-tapping on Friday.
The 42nd European Potters' Market in Ransbach-Baumbach ranks among the most significant ceramics events in Germany, in the heart of the Kannenbäckerland pottery region. Potters and ceramicists from across Europe display their work in the town's streets. In Trier Cathedral, the country's oldest bishop's see and more than 1,700 years old, the Mosel Music Festival gives its closing concert on Saturday, October 3, with Verdi's Requiem, performed by the Trier Philharmonic Orchestra together with choirs and soloists. The season spans more than 40 venues between Trier, the Moselle, the Saar and the Eifel.
The Heidesheim harvest festival ranks among Germany's three largest harvest parades and draws tens of thousands to the village between Mainz and Bingen, over three days organized by the local harvest and tradition association. In Bingen, the sculpture triennial closes its seventh edition on Sunday, with twenty artists showing work along the Kulturufer promenade and in two Bingen churches. On the Sickinger Höhe hills, known as Palatinate's potato country for their mineral-rich sandstone soil, the potato market in Wallhalben celebrates its 18th edition with more than forty stalls.
A large fireworks display on Tuesday evening closes the Bad Neuenahr funfair.