siren6214

Hello!
Husband and I are planning 2-month trip around Europe in 2016. We are in our early 30's.
Originally we wanted to go to Oktoberfest but after a wave of negative feedback we decided it was no longer a bucket list destination. I have been told there are various other festivals across Europe. Currently we will be near Paris/Switzerland/Munich between mid-August and September - right now plans are very flexible. Are there any festivals that take place around that time that you'd recommend? We aren't really art-buffs, have a pretty well-rounded taste for music in the States (not familiar with many European bands however) mostly would enjoy food/beer/culture. Not sure what to expect at a European festival to be honest - so I apologize for my ignorance if this question is missing other key input. Thanks!

Mainhattengirl

My favorite festival is the Museums Riverbank Festival in Frankfurt, held the last weekend in August. Last year, they had about 20 stages with all kinds of music, about 600 stands and for 7 € you could get into all of the museums all weekend long. Dragon Boat racing, fireworks, all manner of food and drink, jazz gardens, Tango, and so much more.
It isn't a drinking orgy like the Oktoberfest is.

Have a look (it rained a lot in 2013):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR4Qq8kCGLQ

flanneruk

"Not sure what to expect at a European festival to be honest "

1. It'll be in Europe
2. It'll be promoted - somewhere - as as festival
3. That's it.

I'm serious. I live in a micro-town in one of Britain's most lightly populated areas (I know you're not coming here, but we're sort of in Europe.) Between mid-July and mid-August, within 10 mins' walk from my front door, we have:
- a major regional beer festival
- a free festival featuring regional rock and similar bands
- an eye-wateringly expensive weekend special, featuring pop ups from half a dozen of London's top restaurants, cookery classes from half a dozen more, concert performances and straight drama from a number of major orchestras and theatre companies, 50 or so bands and musical acts (headliners over the past decade have ranged from 10cc to Paul Simon to Blondie to Bjork) , a wide range of debates, seminars and readings, several dozen hand-chosen food stands and 20,000 extraordinarily polite festivalgoers - all staying the whole three days - from a month old to 95.

Within 15 miles, we have:
- a festival of obscure 18th century opera
- a world-class festival of conventional opera
- one other conventional music-intensive festival with interesting eating and drinking, and one other food and drink festival with a couple of dozen bands
- three or four ordinary literary festivals
- Britain's best-loved folk festival (well: folk-ish: recent headliners include Emmylou Harris, Status Quo and Alice Cooper)
- Usually, a lieder festival, or a choir festival or a few other posh music extravaganzas.

And that's just in four weeks - and I've left out the dozens of street fairs, village fetes and all the other summer specials within a 30 minute drive. Obviously, in real towns or cities, there's more going on.

You may have your own definition of "festival." You're likely to get better answers if you say what you're looking for.

Fussgaenger

On 9/11-15 and 18-21 you can do Bad Dürkheim's sausage fest, which has been a tradition for about 600 years:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...alatinate.html

There's a wine fest every weekend in Germany's castle-studded Middle Rhine Valley. Wine and food stands, street music, etc. These small towns fill up quickly on September weekends so book ahead. There should be fireworks on one or both Saturdays at Oberwesel's festival:

http://www.oberwesel.de/uploads/pics/P1060485.JPG
http://www.oberwesel.de/en/highlights/weinmarkt/

siren6214

Thanks for the responses! I am going to be in London for about 6 days in early August flanneruk so I appreciate the tips. I am more familiar with festivals being associated with music in the U.S. or sometimes small towns have little festivals to celebrate a tradition or for fundraising purposes. The festivals in Europe seem to command thousands of people so that's what I mean when I say I have no idea what to expect. I am more well-versed when it comes to fairs, since I enjoy food - drinks - entertainment - crafts - rides even, where there's a good sized crowd but not an overwhelming one. Growing up I was a huge fan of a particular renaissance fair in our region, however I have yet to find another that has ever come close to it.