Todtmoos Heimatabend mit Trachtengruppe

Folk Tradition in the Highest Black Forest

Todtmoos is located at an altitude of around 800 meters in the Waldshut district of Baden-Württemberg — one of Germany's highest-altitude health resorts and one of the most traditional costume locations in the Southern Black Forest. For decades, the Todtmoos Traditional Costume Group has preserved local folk music, regional dance forms, and Black Forest traditional attire — and presents this preservation work once a year at the summer Heimatabend. In 2026, the date is Saturday, July 11, 8 PM.

The Heimatabend as a Showcase of Tradition

The Old Spa Park in Todtmoos — the central green lung of the spa town — serves as the stage. As dusk falls, the program begins with the entrance of the traditional costume group in full historical attire. The women wear the Black Forest festive attire with the characteristic straw hat, and the men wear the short black 'Joppe' (jacket) with a red waistcoat. On stage, folk dances from the Southern Black Forest repertoire follow — Schottisch, Polka, Ländler, Mazurka — as well as song performances by the traditional costume group and occasional musical interludes by invited folk music bands from the region.

Customs and explanations are interspersed: The group presents the significance of individual costume elements, explains the wedding attire, the wearing of the bridal crown, and the 'Maibaum-Wirken' — the Black Forest version of raising the Maypole. Thus, the Heimatabend is not just a performance, but also an ethnographic presentation.

Todtmoos — Health Resort, Sled Dogs, Spa Town

With around 2,000 inhabitants, Todtmoos is a small health resort community in the Southern Black Forest. The town is regionally known for the International Sled Dog Race Todtmoos (the Waldhaus-Wehra-Trail, end of October) and for its healthy climate at 800 meters altitude. The Heimatabend with the traditional costume group is part of the community's summer tourist program — alongside the spa concert in May, the Festival of Lights in August, and the Autumn Festival at the motorhome parking site. Together, these events make Todtmoos a manageable but lively venue in the southern Black Forest.

Who Attends

The Heimatabend attracts a diverse audience: spa guests and hikers who are already in Todtmoos for their summer holidays, day-trippers from the Waldshut and Lörrach regions, folk dance enthusiasts from the South German traditional costume scene, and older Black Forest residents rediscovering their own traditional costume past. The atmosphere in the Old Spa Park — under the tall fir trees, in the evening light — lends the event a character that no indoor performance could ever achieve.