Hanau Spring Fair

Volksfest in the Heart of the Brothers Grimm City

The Hanau Spring Fair is Hanau's big spring Volksfest and the city's kick-off to the open-air season. The fair is organized by Hanau showmen in cooperation with the city administration, and the venue has for years been the central Freiheitsplatz – the largest public square in Hanau's city center, perfectly suited for rides, stalls, and the convivial atmosphere.

Five Days of Festivities Around the Clock

The fair is open from Thursday, April 23rd, to Monday, April 27th, 2026, daily from 10 am to 10 pm. This makes it an all-day event: school classes and families come in the morning, commuters from Hanau's city center at midday, and the young Volksfest crowd in the evening. Freiheitsplatz becomes the loudest place in the city during this week – and that's exactly the idea.

Family Day as a Trademark

One of the Spring Fair's oldest traditions is the Family Day on Monday: on this last day of the festival, many showmen offer their rides at half price. This makes the fair significantly more affordable than on weekend days and specifically attracts families with children who might find a full-price day on the Ferris wheel and chain carousel too expensive otherwise. The concept isn't new, but it has worked for decades.

More Than Just Rides

Classic Volksfest attractions shape the scene: the Ferris wheel with views over the city center, chain carousel, dodgems, various water rides, children's rides. In addition, there are stalls with gingerbread hearts, candied almonds, crêpes, lard pastries, bratwurst, and potato pancakes – the essence of a German Kirmes. In the adjacent Langstraße, the city's "Augustinchen" play bus sets up a Children's Mile with creative and skill-based courses on Saturday (10 am–4 pm).

Embedded in Hanau's Market Season

The Spring Fair doesn't coincidentally fall in a week when other Hanau markets also change locations: fabric market, after-work market, farmers' and gourmets' market overlap partially. Anyone spending the weekend of April 23rd–27th in Hanau can experience the city center completely in festival mode – a deliberate city marketing approach that uses the Spring Fair as an anchor.

Hanau – More Than Just an Industrial City

Hanau am Main, the birthplace of the Brothers Grimm and a jewelry metropolis in the Rhine-Main region, has invested heavily in inner-city development in recent years. Freiheitsplatz, once a drab traffic area, has been elaborately redesigned and is now one of the most modern inner-city event spaces in Hesse. The Spring Fair is one of the formats that bring this investment to life.