Schützen- und Heimatfest Radevormwald

Over 300 Years of Marksmen Tradition in Radevormwald

The Schützenverein Radevormwald 1708 e.V. is one of the oldest active marksmen's associations in North Rhine-Westphalia. Founded in 1708, in the early 18th century, it has accompanied the city's history – through industrialization, two world wars, the city fire, and reconstruction. Its marksmen's and homeland festival has been the largest folk festival in Radevormwald for generations, a small town in the Oberbergischer Kreis on the eastern edge of the Bergisches Land with around 22,000 inhabitants.

What You'll Experience at the Festival

The marksmen's and homeland festival traditionally lasts four days and follows a fixed choreography of club life, city history, and funfair.

• Thursday evening – "Hutschmücker-Treffen" (hat decoration meeting) of the stallholders in the Schützenhaus, small competition for the Hutschmücker queen title
• Friday – official barrel tapping ceremony for the funfair opening in the city center; handover of the honorary shield
• Saturday – bird shooting at the Schützenhaus, determination of the new majesties (King and Queen, Prince and Princess couple)
• Sunday – grand parade through the city center with all friendly associations, followed by a festive proclamation of the king with a retreat ceremony in the festival hall of the town hall
• Monday – funfair with carousels, shooting galleries, ice cream parlors, and drink stands, a cozy end in the city center pubs

The City Center as a Festival Ground

The funfair traditionally occupies the market square, the main street, and the adjacent squares around the town hall. The association's Schützenhaus on the outskirts of the city remains the venue for the bird shooting and the coronation ceremony. The connection between the sporty-traditional club activities at the Schützenhaus and the folk festival funfair in the city center is one of the hallmarks of the Radevormwald festival.

Radevormwald – Town in the Bergisches Land

Radevormwald is located in the Oberbergischer Kreis (Cologne administrative district), on the Wupper dam and only a few kilometers from Remscheid and Wuppertal. The town is one of the oldest in the Bergisches Land – city rights date back to 1316. With the Schützenverein 1708, club life is also deeply rooted in the city's history; many Radevormwald families have been members for generations.

Homeland Festival in the Classic Sense

The word "Heimatfest" (homeland festival) is not a folklore label in the Bergisches Land, but a concrete form of event: a marksmen's festival that explicitly includes the entire city life – with a funfair for families, a parade for the city society, and a festival hall reception for the administration, churches, and friendly associations. Those coming from Wuppertal or Remscheid will experience a particularly compact, village-like variant of the Bergisch marksmen's festival in Radevormwald.