Events and festivals on October 10 and 11, 2026 in Rhineland-Palatinate: the Lukasmarkt begins in Mayen, and in Neustadt the wine growers' parade sends more than 100 floats through the town centre.
Ferris wheels above the skyline of Mayen. In the town centre of this Vulkaneifel town, the Lukasmarkt opens on Saturday, October 10, 2026. Events and festivals on October 10 and 11, 2026 in Rhineland-Palatinate: the Lukasmarkt begins in Mayen, and in Neustadt the wine growers' parade sends more than 100 floats through the town centre.
The Lukasmarkt in Mayen's town centre
Mayen has held the Lukasmarkt since 1405. The town received its market right then, and the fair was established around the feast day of Saint Luke on 18 October. It now draws around 250,000 visitors a year, ranks as the largest folk festival in the northern Rhineland-Palatinate and as one of the oldest fairs in Germany. The 621st edition runs for nine days.
From 10 October to 18 October the whole town centre belongs to the showmen. Ferris wheels, roller coasters, dodgems and carousels line the squares around Genovevaburg castle and the Old Town Hall, with festival tents, snack stands and raffle booths in between.
Saturday opens with the traditional keg tapping at the Old Town Hall, followed by the Lukasmarkt parade through the centre.
The livestock and crafts market sets up every day in Bäckerstraße. Farmers from the Vordereifel show horses, cattle and small animals, craftsmen work in front of an audience, and direct sellers offer regional produce. This part of the fair keeps its agricultural roots alive.
Open shopping Sundays, family days with reduced ride prices and a high fireworks display belong to the fixed programme. In the evening the castle and the rides are lit together.
A parade in Neustadt, markets and festivals in the villages
On Sunday, October 11, between 1:30 and 4 p.m., the Grand Wine Growers' Parade moves through Neustadt's town centre, the high point of the German Wine Harvest Festival. More than 100 floats and bands take part, and the Palatinate wine royalty and the newly crowned German wine majesties ride on the show floats. A day earlier, at 4 p.m. on Saturday, the Palatinate Wine Brotherhood invites guests to the 60th Great Palatinate Wine Tasting in the Saalbau, a commented tasting that has belonged to the harvest festival since 1966.
From Saturday to Monday the Miehlener Oktobermarkt fills the centre of Miehlen in the Blaues Ländchen with a stallholders' market, rides and snack stands, and the festival parade starts on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Around the Gienanth house in Schönau, more than forty exhibitors from the Palatinate and Alsace show their goods at the Michaelismarkt on Sunday, and a fanfare band plays at 2 p.m. On the Hohe List above Busenberg and Dahn, the hosts bake potatoes in an open fire from noon at the Grummbierbroode, with hut cooking and Palatinate wine alongside.
Edenkoben bets on the chestnut on Saturday and Sunday. At the wine and chestnut market on Werner-Kastner-Platz and Schafplatz, producers sell bread, flour, pasta, sausage, liqueur and honey made from sweet chestnuts, and there is wine and Federweißer from the Südliche Weinstraße. In Winningen on the Moselle, the Genussmarkt brings winemakers, cheese makers, beekeepers, bakers and small manufacturers to the historic village square on Sunday, and entry is free.
In Gau-Algesheim, eight family wine estates pour more than forty wines in the courtyards and squares of the old town from 9 to 12 October at the Fest des Jungen Weines, with Rheinhessen tapas and concerts in the inner courtyards. The festival carries the AUSGEZEICHNET Weinfest Rheinhessen seal.
Saturday is the sporting day in Pirmasens: the routes of the Wasgau Bike Marathon cross the Palatinate Forest-North Vosges biosphere reserve, start and finish are in Pirmasens, and several distances and categories let professionals and keen amateurs ride.
Entry to the Lukasmarkt in Mayen is free, and the providers charge for rides and food according to their own price lists.