Schlemmen am See Böblingen

Thirty Years of Culinary Tradition by the Lake

"Schlemmen am See" first started in 1994 — two local restaurateurs, a few pagoda tents on Böblingen's Oberer See, live music in the evening. Today, more than three decades later, the event organized by Tim Hornung and Timo Böckle is one of the established summer institutions of the Stuttgart region: five days, around 21 participating restaurants, two stages, tens of thousands of visitors. Free admission. Anyone living in the greater Stuttgart area knows the white tent roofs by the water of the Oberer See — a picture-perfect backdrop with Schlossberg in the background and its reflection on the lake.

Swabian and International Cuisine in Pagoda Tents

The concept has hardly changed since the beginning: Böblingen and supra-regional restaurateurs set up white pagoda tents directly by the water and serve their specialties. Swabian classics (Maultaschen, Spätzle, Linsen mit Saiten, Zwiebelrostbraten) alternate with Italian pasta, Japanese sushi, Vietnamese spring rolls, South American tapas, Lebanese mezze platters, Mediterranean fish dishes, and vegan bowls. Around 21 restaurants perform simultaneously — visitors stroll, compare, order small portions at different stalls, and sit with family and friends in the covered lounge areas or directly by the water. Accompanied by wine, beer, and cocktails from dedicated bars.

Two Stages, Live Bands, Opening Fireworks

Music is as much a part of Schlemmen am See as the food. Two stages with daily changing live bands provide the soundtrack: cover bands, funk, soul, Latin, jazz, Swabian songwriters, regional newcomer bands. The start is traditionally marked by the opening fireworks on Wednesday evening — fired from the opposite lakeshore, it reflects in the water surface of the Oberer See. Tens of thousands of visitors are present simultaneously, with the festival mile stretching along the lake shore from Elbenplatz. During the five festival days, the audience shifts between families in the afternoon and a celebrating crowd in the late evening.

Böblingen's Summer Institution

Schlemmen am See is more than a street food festival: for Böblingen, it is the major social event of the summer. The district town of around 50,000 inhabitants in Stuttgart's commuter belt transforms into a completely different city during these five days — full of voices, music, scents, full of visitors from Sindelfingen, Stuttgart, Tübingen, Reutlingen, Calw. The Stadtwerke Böblingen (municipal utility company) supports the event, which is managed by the two restaurateurs Tim Hornung and Timo Böckle. Anyone in the region in July should spend at least one evening there — the festival is one of the most beautiful open-air experiences in Baden-Württemberg's summer calendar.