Name: Erntedankfest Dannau 2026
Start: 2026-10-03T00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-10-03T00:00:00+00:00
Location: Festwiese am Dörpshus

Erntedankfest Dannau

About Erntedankfest Dannau

The Erntedankfest (harvest festival) in the municipality of Dannau in the Plön district is one of the traditional village festivals of the eastern Holstein Switzerland and looks back on more than 40 editions. The highlight of each year is the large harvest festival parade on Saturday afternoon, which starts at 1 p.m. from the Dörpshus through the village — with decorated harvest wagons, the harvest queen, guilds, riders, vintage tractors from Blekendorf, and marching bands from Oldenburg and Plön. From 2 p.m. onwards, festival activities on the festival meadow with a threshing machine demonstration, ring riding, music, and a family program. In the evening from 8 p.m., a dance ball (admission €7). The exact 2026 edition traditionally falls on a Saturday around the first of October.

Dates 03 Oct — 03 Oct 2026

Venue Dannau (01057)

Prices 0.00€ — 7.00€

Status —

Edition 2026

Erntedankfest Dannau — edition 2026

The 2026 Erntedankfest in Dannau follows the established tradition: from 1 p.m., a parade from the Dörpshus through the village with harvest wagons, harvest queen, riders, vintage tractors, and marching music. From 2 p.m., festival activities on the festival meadow with threshing machine, ring riding, music, and family program. In the evening, a dance ball (€7 admission). The exact date for 2026 will be published on dannau.de.

The 2026 edition continues the proven format of the festival. Several hundred visitors from Dannau and neighboring communities are expected again, as well as guests from Plön and Lütjenburg. The municipality of Dannau is the organizer.

As always, the parade is the centerpiece: decorated harvest wagons, the harvest queen, guilds, riders, and tractors move from the Dörpshus through the village. Followed by festival activities with all the classics — threshing machine demonstration, ring riding, music. The day concludes with a dance ball in the evening.

Highlights Erntedankfest Dannau 2026

Grand harvest festival parade from 1 p.m. with harvest queen, threshing machine demonstration, ring riding by the riding guild, evening dance ball.

Programme Erntedankfest Dannau 2026

Schedule (based on previous years)

1:00 PM: Parade starts from Dörpshus (Hauptstraße 7)
Participants: decorated harvest wagons, harvest queen, guilds, riders, vintage tractors from the Blekendorf tractor club, marching bands from Oldenburg and Plön
2:00 PM: Festival activities on the festival meadow begin
Highlights: Demonstration of a historic threshing machine, ring riding by the riding guild (hitting the center of a ring with a lance from a gallop), performances by local music groups and entertainers, family program
8:00 PM: Evening dance ball (admission €7, guests from outside the community welcome)

The exact date and the list of program items for 2026 will be published in September 2026 on dannau.de.

Prices Erntedankfest Dannau 2026

Daytime event admission free. Evening dance ball €7.

Practical information

Practical information — Erntedankfest Dannau

Getting There

By car: B202 from Plön towards Lütjenburg, then turn off to Dannau. Parking in the village and on surrounding meadows is signposted. By train: nearest station is Plön, from there by bus or taxi.

Admission

Parade and festival activities on the festival meadow: free. Dance ball in the evening: €7 admission.

Date

Tradition: first Saturday in October. The exact date for 2026 will be published on dannau.de.

Tip

Combine the festival with a hike around the Dannauer See — the adjacent nature reserve is one of the particularly quiet corners of Holstein Switzerland.

A Harvest Festival Tradition with Over 40 Editions

The Erntedankfest Dannau is one of the oldest and most lovingly maintained harvest festivals in the eastern Holstein Switzerland. The municipality of Dannau is located between Plön and Eutin in the Plön district — a rural region where agricultural tradition still visibly shapes village life. The festival is organized by the community and already looks back on more than 40 editions.

The Parade — The Heart of the Festival

The harvest festival parade traditionally starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday from the Dörpshus (Hauptstraße 7) and winds its way through the entire village. What you will experience there:

Decorated harvest wagons with sheaves, pumpkins, and autumnal motifs
The Harvest Queen as the festival figure
Local guilds and club delegations
Riders from the local riding guild
Vintage tractors from the Blekendorf tractor club
Marching bands from Oldenburg and Plön

Festival Activities on the Festival Meadow

From 2 p.m. onwards, the program continues on the festival meadow. Classic program items include:

Demonstration of a historic threshing machine (most recently under the direction of Andreas Schnoor)
Ring riding by the riding guild — riders try to hit the center of a ring with a lance while galloping, an old North German discipline
Performances by local music groups and entertainer Christoph Peters
Family program with games and activities
Festival speeches by prominent guests (in the past, among others, former Minister President Peter Harry Carstensen)

In the evening from 8:00 p.m., the day ends with a dance ball (admission €7), to which guests from outside the community are also welcome.

Dannau and the Plön District

The small municipality of Dannau in the Plön district, state of Schleswig-Holstein, is located in the middle of the hilly landscape of Holstein Switzerland, near the Dannauer See (nature reserve). The region's agricultural tradition is directly palpable in the harvest festival — the tractors, threshing machines, and harvest wagons are not a folkloric staging, but living heritage. A tradition in which the village celebrates itself while gratefully honoring the year's harvest.