Altmain-Weinfest Sand am Main

35 Years of Wine Festival Tradition on the Main

The Altmain-Weinfest in Sand am Main was initiated in the early 1990s by the Altmain-Weinfest Organizing Committee — as a wine festival exclusively showcasing the products of Sand winemakers. 2026 marks the 35th edition — three decades of Franconian wine festival on the Untermain, with unbroken popularity among audiences from the Maindreieck, the Würzburg region, and the Schweinfurt area.

Sand Wine — A Specialty of the Maindreieck

Sand am Main is a wine-growing community in the Haßberge district, with particularly good vineyard sites on the south-facing banks of the Main River. Sand winemakers produce high-quality white and red wines as well as Franconian sparkling wine (Sekt) — Silvaner as the leading Franconian grape variety, along with Bacchus, Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Spätburgunder, and Domina. At the Altmain-Weinfest, only wines from Sand vineyard sites are served — a rare consistency in the Franconian wine festival landscape.

Specialty: Original Sander Käskuchen

A culinary highlight that has made the festival famous in the region: the Original Sander Käskuchen. Unlike the sweet cheesecake found in other regions, the Sander Käskuchen is a savory cake with a Franconian cheese topping — a specialty prepared only in Sand am Main and its immediate surroundings. It is freshly served at several stalls during the festival and is one of the specialties that draws many visitors.

Live Music: Famous Bands from Radio and TV

The musical program is of a higher caliber than at many regional wine festivals — for years, the organizers have booked well-known bands from radio and television, complemented by regional Franconian bands and acoustic sets. Exact lineups are announced on the organizer's website in the weeks leading up to the festival.

Sand am Main and the Haßberge Region

Sand am Main is located in the Haßberge district in Unterfranken, in the Maindreieck region between Schweinfurt and Bamberg. With only about 1,500 inhabitants, Sand is one of Franconia's smaller wine-growing communities, but boasts an unusually dense winemaking tradition. The Haßberge — the gentle hilly landscape north of the Maindreieck — are one of the less touristically developed but scenically most attractive regions of Mainfranken.