Tourism culture and society: German Festivals

There are a total of 15 public holidays in Germany that is related to festivals.

Holidays	Dates
New Year’s Day	Jan 1
Epiphany	Jan 6
Good Friday	Mar/Apr
Easter Sunday	Mar/Apr
Easter Monday	Mar/Apr
Labor Day	May 1
Ascension Day	May/Jun
Whitsun Sunday	May/Jun
Whitsun Monday	May/Jun
Corpus Christi	May/June
Assumption Day	Aug 15
Day of German Unity	Oct 3
All Saints Day	Nov 1
Christmas Day	Dec 25
Christmas Day 2	Dec 26

Ein frohes neues Jahr! (New Year’s Eve)

Celebrated with fireworks, ringing of church bells with a bottle of champagne together with family gatherings is what defines New Year’s Eve in Germany.

The dropping of molten lead into cold water are said to forecast the future.

Symbol/Shape	Meaning
Ring	Someone is about to be engaged
Airplane/ship	The family would take a trip overseas
Heart	Love
Pig/four-leafed clover	Good luck
Crosses/broken rings	Death or separation

Karneval

Also known as the 5^th season, it starts on the 11^th day of the 11^th month at 11 minutes after 11. This is where people will line up in streets in funny costumes, drinking, cheering and trying to catch some of the goodies thrown from the floats as can be seen in the video below.

Oktoberfest

The day that Price Ludwig married Princess Therese, a large party was held outside the city gates. Ever since then, Germans repeated this festival as they enjoyed it very much. It is celebrated in 16 days beginning on a Saturday in September and ending on the first Sunday in October from then till now. Over 7 million people a year are attracted to the Oktoberfest.

In this festival, men and women dress in traditional local costumes to add in to the festive mood.

There’d be a parade with military band playing, and horses will pull the beer ladies as well as Munich’s mayor to start of the festival. Then, the beer tents are erected the beer starts flowing, and numerous Oktoberfest music is played.

In this festival, you will notice many horses used for police patrols because the number of tourists and visitors will not allow any vehicle to pass through. To add on, amusement rides are also included to elevate the excitement and thrill.