Kiliansfest Schötmar

The largest city festival in Bad Salzuflen

The Kiliansfest in Schötmar is more than a classic district festival: it is the largest city festival in the spa town of Bad Salzuflen and one of the most important Volksfest (public festival) dates in the Lippe region. From September 18 to 20, 2026 – Friday to Sunday – the festival draws thousands of visitors from the Lippe district, the neighboring Herford district, and southern Lower Saxony to the Schötmar city center.

Saint Kilian as the festival's patron

The festival dates back to the veneration of Saint Kilian – an Irish itinerant missionary from the 7th century who brought Christianity to Franconia and other parts of the German-speaking world. In Schötmar, the Protestant St. Kilian's Church bears his name and is located in the center of the historic old town. The Kiliansfest, originally religious, is now a civic city festival with a funfair character that helps to foster the district's identity.

Program components over three days

• Funfair / Rides – Carousels, Ferris wheel, bumper cars, children's rides, shooting galleries, and game stalls in the market area
• Live Music – Stage program with cover bands, Schlager, and pop. Concerts on Friday and Saturday evenings
• Parties – City center party with DJs in Schötmar's catering establishments and on the main stage
• Flea Market – Sunday, classic market with private and commercial vendors throughout the city center
• Sunday Shopping – Schötmar's shops open their doors
• Gastronomy – Lippe specialties, Bratwurst, Pickert, local breweries, stalls from local clubs

No longer just a district festival — Bad Salzuflen's main event

Although it started as a Schötmar district festival, the Kiliansfest has long since become *the* city festival of Bad Salzuflen. The spa town itself (i.e., the actual spa park area about 1.5 km north) does not have its own large-scale event of this magnitude; the Kiliansfest in Schötmar consolidates the city's Volksfest (public festival) program. Bad Salzuflen's tourism benefits from this – spa guests come, and regional visitors travel in.

Schötmar — the civic heart of Bad Salzuflen

Bad Salzuflen has two faces: the northern spa district (saltworks, spa park, graduation towers, thermal baths) and the southern Schötmar – the civic, commercial, and historically older town center. Schötmar has its own townscape with half-timbered houses, its own church, and its own clubs. The city as a whole has around 55,000 inhabitants, making it the third-largest town in the Lippe district (after Detmold and Lemgo).