Cannstatter Volksfest
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The Cannstatter Volksfest is an annual three-week
Volksfest A Volksfest ( ; German for "people's festival")Cognate of "folk festival" in English is a large event in German-speaking countries which usually combines a beer festival or wine festival and a travelling funfair. Attractions may include amusement ...
(
beer festival A beer festival is an event at which a variety of beers are available for purchase. There may be a theme, for instance beers from a particular area, or a particular brewing style such as winter ales. Asia * Singapore holds an annual Beer Festiva ...
and
travelling funfair A traveling carnival (US English), usually simply called a carnival, or travelling funfair (UK English), is an amusement show that may be made up of amusement rides, food vendors, merchandise vendors, games of chance and skill, thrill acts, ...
) in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It is sometimes also referred to by foreign visitors as the Stuttgart Beer Festival, although it is actually more of an autumnal fair. The festival takes place at the
Cannstatter Wasen The Cannstatter Wasen is a 35 hectare festival area on the banks of the Neckar river in the part of Stuttgart known as Bad Cannstatt. The Cannstatter Wasen form part of the Neckar Park Fairground. Each year the Wasen hosts the Cannstatter Vol ...
from late September to early October, spanning a period over three weekends, ending the second Sunday in October. The extensive Wasen area is in the Stuttgart city district of
Bad Cannstatt Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's b ...
, near the river
Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...
. A smaller variant of the Stuttgart festival, the
Stuttgart Spring Festival Stuttgart Spring Festival (in German called Stuttgarter Frühlingsfest or sometimes vernacular Cannstatter Wasen or just Wasen) was an annual fair that takes place in the German city of Stuttgart between the middle of April and the beginning of ...
, is also held each year in Wasen. Although the Volksfest is not strictly speaking a beer festival, it is considered by many to be the second largest beer celebration in the world after the Munich
Oktoberfest The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...
. According to estimates about 4.2 million people visited the festival in 2006. The Volksfest begins one week later than the Oktoberfest.


History

The first Cannstatter Volksfest was conceived as a celebration of agriculture after a period of crop failures and famine as a result of the
volcanic winter A volcanic winter is a reduction in global temperatures caused by volcanic ash and droplets of sulfuric acid and water obscuring the Sun and raising Earth's albedo (increasing the reflection of solar radiation) after a large, particularly explosiv ...
following the
1815 eruption of Mount Tambora Mount Tambora is a volcano on the island of Sumbawa in present-day Indonesia, then part of the Dutch East Indies, and its 1815 eruption was the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded human history. This volcanic explosivity index (VEI) 7 ...
in Indonesia. The inaugural event was held in a meadow near the River Neckar on 28 September 1818, and featured displays of agricultural technology and a "Fruchtsäule" (
Fruit Column The fruit column (German: ''Fruchtsäule'') is a wood column decorated with fruits in Stuttgart, Germany. It weighs 3.5 tons and is remains the landmark of the Cannstatter Wasen in Stuttgart although it is towered by numerous roundabouts. Alrea ...
) display covered with fruits, vegetables, and grains donated by
King Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the f ...
. In the following decades, the Volksfest grew and evolved beyond its agricultural focus. In 1841, the festival's first parade was held, which featured over 10,000 participants and 100,000 spectators.


Parade

Traditionally a parade also takes place at the Wasen, usually on the first Sunday. In 1954 a record number of spectators attended the parade along the route from Stuttgart's central square to the Wasen site: 300,000. The Mohrenköpfle is a pig in the parade. On the orders of King Wilhelm I, Maskenschweine (
Meishan pig The Meishan () is a breed of domestic pig named for the Meishan, Jiangsu Province, China. It is a sub-group of the Taihu pig and is a small to medium-sized (275-400 lbs) breed with large drooping ears, and wrinkled black skin. Meishan Pigs are e ...
s) were imported from Central China in 1820–21, in order to improve pig breeding in the kingdom of Baden-Württemberg. This crossbreeding with the "Chinese pigs" was particularly successful within the stocks of domestic pigs in the Hohenlohe region and the area around the town of
Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...
.


References


External links

{{authority control 1818 establishments in Germany Beer festivals in Germany Festivals in Stuttgart Annual events in Germany Festivals established in 1818 19th-century establishments in Württemberg Autumn events in Germany COVID-19 pandemic in Germany