Kirchenlamitz Folk and Meadow Festival

Meadow Festival Tradition in the Northern Fichtelgebirge

Meadow festivals (Wiesenfeste) are a cultural specialty of Upper Franconia. In mid-July, Kirchenlamitz in the district of Wunsiedel celebrates its traditional folk and meadow festival (Volks- und Wiesenfest). Together with the meadow festivals in Schwarzenbach an der Saale, Selb, Münchberg, and Hof, it is considered one of the characteristic festivals of the northern Fichtelgebirge. Since 2016, the meadow festival in Upper Franconia has been recognized as intangible cultural heritage in Bavaria.

Four Festival Days on the Fairgrounds

The venue is the Schwarzenbacher Straße fairgrounds. Here, the town sets up a large festival tent where the brewery crew serves beer and live bands provide the entertainment. Adjacent to it is a classic amusement park with dodgems, carousels, a giant slide, a chain flyer, a children's airplane ride, and a merry-go-round. Hot air balloons launch from the fairgrounds on the evenings, weather permitting.

School Parade — The Heart of the Festival

The highlight is the school parade on Monday afternoon at 12:45 PM. Children from Kirchenlamitz schools, dressed in white festival attire and accompanied by brass bands, march from the market square to the fairgrounds, where the school dance (Schultanz) takes place in the afternoon with traditional performances and appearances by the school bands. A special moment is the balloon launch on Monday evening, when the students release colorful balloons into the sky.

Religious Tradition: Ecumenical Tent Service

On Sunday morning, an ecumenical tent service with a brass choir is held — a deliberate combination of piety and folk festival, as is customary in the predominantly Protestant parts of Upper Franconia. This is traditionally followed by a Weißwurst breakfast (Weißwurst-Frühschoppen).

Kirchenlamitz and the Fichtelgebirge

Kirchenlamitz is located at the foot of the Fichtelgebirge mountains in Upper Franconia. The town is known for its granite quarries and the nearby nature reserve. A visit to the meadow festival can be ideally combined with a hike on the Großer Waldstein, a trip to the Weißenstadter See lake, or a detour to Wunsiedel to visit the Luisenburg rock garden.