Probably
Germany is the country with greatest amount of festivals
in Europe; almost all the populations, great or small,
have their summer fair, as well as an huge range of Christian
and pagan celebrations that have been fused throughout
the time until filling the calendar.
The most renowned German festival is the Munich Oktoberfest,
but the Carnival and Christmas occupy a main place when
it comes to celebration excuses. There is also a great
amount of music festivals, from opera to outdoors concerts
of jazz and rock, and the Berlin Love Parade, when the
German capital is transformed into a gigantic discotheque.
January is a relatively calm month, although there are
several events related to the Carnival, like the selection
of the Carnival King; the celebration climax is in February
and March. Colony, Mainz and Dusseldorf have the more
spectacular Carnival celebrations, while the pagan version
of this celebration is in the Württemberg Fastnet.
During the Easter, colourful masses are made, specially
in the rural areas. Another important celebration that
occurs by the end of April is the Walpurgisnacht, a witches
reunion.
By May, begins most of the summer festivals, with concerts
in historical buildings -like the exceptional Schlosstheater
in Schwetzingen-, classic religious festivals like the
Whitsun, or the Corpus Christi in Colony or Bamberg.
July is a month particularly full of festivities, with
its wine and beer festivals, like the one celebrated in
Kulmbach. The Opernfest in Bayreuth and Munich, solely
dedicated to Wagner is in July.
Paradoxically, the Münich Oktoberfest generally begins
by mid September, and is known as a month full with baquian
celebrations, like the Volkfest in Bad Cannstatt or the
Weindorf in Heilbronn. Between October and November it
lowers the celebrations average, until the arriving of
Christmas in December, with the sprouting of fairs and
full Christmas related markets, with articles ranging
from leather clothes to toys and hand-made decorations.
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