Events in Schleswig-Holstein this weekend, October 3 and 4, 2026: the Windsurf World Cup on Sylt, the NordArt exhibition in Büdelsdorf, and several harvest festivals between the North Sea coast and the Holstein Switzerland lakes.
Brandenburg Beach, Westerland. There, on October 3 and 4, 2026, the Windsurf World Cup Sylt reaches its final two days. Events fill Schleswig-Holstein this weekend, from the North Sea coast to the Holstein Switzerland lakes, and the Windsurf World Cup on Sylt draws close to 200,000 visitors across ten days.
The Windsurf World Cup, Between Wave, Freestyle and Slalom
The Windsurf World Cup Sylt has ranked as the high point of the international windsurfing season since 1984, and more than 100 athletes from over 25 nations gather each autumn on Brandenburg Beach in Westerland, led by German wave star Philip Köster. Prize money of 85,000 euros draws them in, and legends such as Björn Dunkerbeck and Robby Naish have shaped the contest over four decades on this same stretch of sand.
Sylt is the only stop on the PWA World Tour to carry the status of Super Grand Slam: wave, freestyle and slalom run in parallel, joined by race and foil disciplines, which makes the island the highest-paying stop on the entire tour. The contest also decides the world titles in wave and freestyle. On 03.10.2026, athletes compete on the second-to-last day of competition.
Close to 200,000 spectators travel to the North Sea island every year, and entry to the whole event site is free with a valid Sylt guest card.
The Rest of the Weekend, Between Art, Film and Harvest
Through October 4, more than 200 international artists from over 50 countries fill the historic Carlshütte in Büdelsdorf with NordArt, one of the largest contemporary art shows in Europe, spread across 22,000 square metres of hall space and an 80,000 square metre sculpture park. The ACO Group carries the show together with the towns of Büdelsdorf and Rendsburg. The sand sculpture exhibition in Travemünde is open this weekend too, with 104 figures carved from more than 10,000 cubic metres of special sand inside the boat sheds at Baggersand.
The 41st Husum Film Days run through October 7 at the Kino-Center Husum, showing films tied to Schleswig-Holstein alongside current German cinema, without competition or prizes. The Trittau Crafts Market for Thanksgiving gathers around 100 craftspeople and designers on October 3 and 4 around the historic water mill at Mühlenteich, for its 44th edition, and grows in 2026 with an added ground on the neighbouring Woolworth site.
About 150 craftspeople set up their stalls on 3.10.26 among the historic buildings of the Molfsee open-air museum, with pottery, goldsmithing and basket weaving on show at the edge of Kiel. Uetersen celebrates a day later. On October 4, the Uetersen Autumn Festival pairs a Sunday shopping opening with a large flea market across the town centre of the Rose Town.
In Dannau, the traditional harvest procession sets off at 1pm on Saturday, with decorated harvest carts, a harvest queen, riders and vintage tractors moving through the village before an evening dance closes the day, a tradition now past 40 editions. The Vaale harvest parade falls in 2026 on the same weekend as the municipality's 777th anniversary, and the brass band of the volunteer fire brigade of Hohenaspe leads the decorated wagons through the streets. Vaale counts around 700 residents in the district of Steinburg.
Entry and parking at the Trittau crafts market cost nothing.