The Germans
have a saying “Man muss die Feste feiern, wie sie fallen”, which basically
means celebrate whenever you get the chance.
Last
weekend was the annual “Heidelberger Herbst” festival (Autumn Festival) in the
centre of Heidelberg and I really enjoy it (or at least used to enjoy it –
dragging a one and a half year old around packed streets just doesn’t have quite
the same appeal.) Festivals are something the Germans do well; they love their
festivals and September/October time in this region is jam-packed full of them.
Apart from carnival or the classic Oktoberfest or Love Parade that everyone
knows, every little town around here finds an excuse to whack out the Bier,
Wein, and Bratwurst stands. And in Heidelberg’s
case last weekend, the Federweizen and Zwiebelkuchen (new wine and onion cake).
Lecker, lecker. Yum, yum.
There is
something for everyone at the Heidelberger Herbst; live musical entertainment, an
artisan’s market, a medieval market square, flea markets, face-painting, etc. for kids – no excuse just to install yourself
at one Bier and Bratwurst stand all day long.
The other festival
I enjoy at this time of the year is the Kastanienfest (Chestnut Festival) in Edenkoben
where you really can sample everything chestnut – chestnut sausage, chestnut
burgers, chestnut Saumagen (stuffed pig’s stomach – bit like a German haggis)
or just have a bag of roasted chestnuts accompanied by a local Riesling or Sekt.
My third festival
of choice is the Spargelfest (Asparagus Festival) in Schwetzingen, which takes
place in May. Here you can sample the traditional local white
asparagus with hollandaise sauce, have an asparagus schnapps or taste some
asparagus chocolate. Have you ever seen an asparagus-shaped chocolate? Either
let your imagination run wild or run a quick google.de images search typing in “asparagus
Schokolade” and check out the first two pictures that appear. Then imagine the
look of horror on my friend’s colleagues’ faces in Scotland when he took them
some back after a trip over here.
There are many
more. Not to mention, of course, the world-famous “Weihnachtsmärkte” or Christmas
Markets, but more on that one nearer the time.
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