August opens in Bavaria with one of the busiest weekends of the year. In Furth im Wald, an eleven-tonne dragon wakes up. In Nuremberg, some 400 musicians take over the old town. In Bamberg, ten days of blues get under way.
Our own pick this week is not on a stage at all. It sits on around 400 folding tables in Selb, in the heart of Upper Franconia's porcelain town. Add a wine festival in a rococo garden, a boat race on an Olympic course and a procession across Lake Schliersee. Twelve stops, spread across all seven Bavarian districts.
Furth im Wald: a dragon that has been dying since 1590
On July 31, the curtain rises again on Germany's oldest folk play. The Drachenstich has been performed without interruption since 1590 and runs until August 16 this year. Around 350 amateur actors stage the dragon fight against the backdrop of the Hussite Wars.
The real star is a robot. Tradinno weighs eleven tonnes, measures 16 metres and holds the Guinness record as the world's largest four-legged walking robot. Catch the opening weekend and you see a cast drawn from practically the whole town.
Nuremberg: 400 bards, eight stages, no ticket
For four days, Nuremberg's old town belongs to singer-songwriters. The Bardentreffen runs from July 30 to August 2 and ranks among Germany's most important world-music festivals. Roughly 400 artists play eight stages, with countless street musicians filling the lanes in between.
In 2026 the festival turns 50. The anniversary coincides with the 450th year since the death of Hans Sachs, the city's most famous Meistersinger. Admission is free, and that shapes the whole weekend. You set off without a programme and hit the next stage within two minutes.
Bamberg: ten days of blues in a World Heritage city
On July 31, Europe's largest free open-air blues and jazz event starts on Bamberg's Böhmerwiese. The International Sparda-Bank Blues and Jazz Festival brings more than 60 bands into the UNESCO city centre through August 9.
Around 150,000 people come each year. International names share the stages with regional talent, and nobody buys a ticket. On the opening weekend the Böhmerwiese and the old town run in parallel, so two sets are rarely more than a short walk apart.
Munich: Greenfields turns 25 at the racecourse
On August 1, the Munich-Riem racecourse becomes a dance floor. Greenfields Open Air is one of Munich's oldest and best-known open airs for electronic music, and it marks its 25th edition in 2026.
The site grows to 19,000 square metres, about 2,000 more than last year. Announced acts include Peggy Gou, Richie Hawtin, Sven Väth, Ben Klock, Pan-Pot, Desiree, Marie Montexier and Meera. Munich rarely gets a line-up of that density in a single night.
Eching: Germany's biggest brass festival camps by the lake
By the Echinger See, about 20 kilometres north of Munich, the Brass Wiesn runs from July 30 to August 2. It bills itself as Germany's largest brass music festival: some 70 bands, several stages, four days.
The programme moves between folk music and modern beats. There is a campsite of its own, alpine huts and vintage tractors on the festival meadow in the Freising district. Anyone who equates brass bands with a beer-tent Sunday morning gets a thorough correction here.
Veitshöchheim: Franconian wine among rococo statues
From July 31 to August 3, the Fasanenallee in the Veitshöchheim court garden turns into a wine promenade. The wine festival in the rococo garden takes place in one of Europe's finest rococo parks, once the summer seat of the Würzburg prince-bishops.
Local associations pour Franconian wines alongside regional food and live music. The pleasure lies in the walk between two stalls. It leads past the garden's sculptures, in a park Balthasar Neumann helped shape. Four days of wine in a setting normally reserved for coach tours.
Grafenau: salt roads, knight fights and fire eaters
In the Bavarian Forest, Grafenau recalls the old Golden Road salt route between Austria and Bohemia from July 31 to August 2. The Historisches Säumerfest counts among Lower Bavaria's largest medieval festivals.
For three days, the Stadtplatz, the BÄREAL and the Haus im Wald become medieval markets with historical encampments. The programme features a packhorse procession, a historical play, knight fights, jugglers and fire eaters. Behind the costumes sits a genuine reason: the trade that fed this town for centuries.
Coburg: a shooting festival with a 672-year run-up
From July 31 to August 9, the Ketschenanger fairground hosts the Coburger Vogelschießen. It is the oldest and largest Volksfest in the town below the Veste, with 672 years of tradition behind it.
The organiser is Schützengesellschaft Coburg 1354, Germany's oldest private shooting society. For ten days, a historical shooting festival, a full-scale funfair and a city celebration overlap. The opening weekend shows both sides: rides and beer tent on one hand, on the other a custom older than almost anything else in town.
Augsburg: homemade boats on the 1972 Olympic course
On August 1, Augsburg's Eiskanal becomes a race track for tinkerers. At the Red Bull Paddelfest, up to 40 teams line up in self-built, elaborately costumed boats. They race on the very canoe course that awarded Olympic medals in 1972.
A jury of athletes and local figures scores three things: speed, boat creativity and team costumes. Thousands of spectators line the banks. Sporting seriousness and open nonsense start in the same lane here, and the nonsense has decent odds.
Gunzenhausen: torch swimmers and fireworks on the Altmühlsee
On Saturday evening, August 1, the Schlungenhof lake centre becomes the stage. See in Flammen on the Altmühlsee ranks among Franconia's most spectacular summer dates.
Illuminated sailing boats and the MS Altmühlsee glide across the water. From 10 pm, the torch swimmers of the lake watch move through the water in formation. The big fireworks start around 10:45 pm. If you are on holiday in the Franconian Lake District, keep this evening free.
Schliersee: a procession that travels by boat
On Sunday, August 2, Schliersee holds the Alt-Schlierseer Kirchtag. It is one of Upper Bavaria's finest costume and folk-tradition festivals, and it opens with a boat procession across the lake.
A festive mass at St. Sixtus with a Schubert setting follows, then a costume procession and the historic Fischschiaßn. The celebration takes place in the spa park at the water's edge. This is not folklore staged for photographs but living club practice, with visitors in the comfortable role of onlookers.
Selb: our pick sits on 400 folding tables
On August 1 and 2, the Upper Franconian porcelain town of Selb becomes a meeting point for collectors. The Fest der Porzelliner hosts Europe's largest porcelain flea market: roughly 350 to 400 stalls of second-hand and antique porcelain, spread over several kilometres of the town centre.
Live music, hands-on porcelain activities and expert appraisals by the Porzellanikon staff round out the weekend. Bring an old cup from the cabinet and you will find out what it is. Our pick of the weekend, because no other Bavarian festival is built so single-mindedly out of one industrial history.
Find more dates across Bavaria in our weekend agenda. Between the Bavarian Forest and the Allgäu, August starts the way it usually starts here: with far more on offer than one weekend can hold.
