The Summer According to Beer Festivals: Annafest

If you remember, I opened the summer season back in June with the Berg festival in Erlangen. But the real highlight of the summer beer festivals for me was just a few weeks ago right here in Forchheim. 

The first time I heard about Annafest was probably over a year ago when I found I was would be moving to this city I had never heard of before. And just like any rational, uniformed person, I read the wikipedia article on Forchheimn - including a small bit on the town's biggest attraction, a beer festival in the middle of summer. 

Annafest is an annual 10 day festival that takes place in the Kellerwald in Forchheim. Along side the 23 beer kellers, they set up all kinds of carnival rides and games. Running till 11pm everynight, you can enjoy liters of beer, live music, traditional food, and the company of several hundred thousands throughout the week. 

Of course, when I read the article, I didn't really realize just how big of a deal this Annafest was. How was I supposed to know that I would hear about it at least once a week while living in Forchheim. That whenever I asked the question "What is there to do in Forchheim?" inevitably the answer "well, have you heard about Annafest?!" would work its way in. So when the festival finally arrived, I was very excited to see how the reality lived up to the rumors.

I made it up to the festival several times during the week. Sometimes just to pop in, take a few pictures and grab some Gebrannte Mandeln (my favorite German treat, roasted almonds!), while other visits were for the whole evening, enjoying delicious food and beer with friends. I would go on, but I think the pictures can do it more justice....

You could order beer at your seat, or you could just walk up to the kellers and get a beer to walk around with

"During Annafest (July 23 - August 1), the Lohnmühl is closed"
There were many bars and restaurants in town that had signs like this up during Annafest.

One of the 4 stages in the Kellerwald that had continuous live music

With the standard Annafest Maß - 1 liter of beer

There was even a ferris wheel

My delicious schäuferla (pig shoulder), after it was devoured 

The main path up into the Kellerwald lined with food and game stands

The bigger carnival rides - all lit up for night here - were down below the kellerwald

The Summer According to Beer Festivals: Berg

As I am being incredibly lame tonight and skipping the penultimate night of Forchheim's big beer festival Annafest, I realized I haven't yet posted about the beer festival that opened the summer season.* 

The Bergkirchweih, more commonly known as just Berg, is an annual beer festival in the city of Erlangen. The festival takes place on their little Berg (the German word for mountain or hill, and in the case of Erlangen, it's definitely just a hill), where Erlangen houses many beer kellers, just like those of the Kellerwald in Forchheim (except not nearly as awesome... obviously). We had heard many rumors of this big festival all the way back in the fall, when some locals said described it as "a better Oktoberfest just for Germans," so when the season approached, we were all looking forward to attending. 

Having been to Oktoberfest [rather begrudgingly] twice, I had a good basis for comparison. And I would have to concur. Berg was much more intimate (well, anything less than 5 million tourist in a 3 week period would seem intimate by comparison) and, on the whole, had a much more authentic traditional feel. 

We went for our first of two visits to Berg as a farewell to Franken party the night before Andy headed back to the states.  I don't know if it was just the amazing atmosphere of Berg, or the fact that we had the whole gang (minus one) together for the last time, or maybe some magical combination of the two, but that night quickly became one of the most memorable and most fun nights of my entire Fulbright experience. 

The second visit was about a week later and this time it was just Gemma and I. We were both a little apprehensive as we knew how awesome the last time was and feared there was no way a second visit could live up to its glory. But between rating our favorite styles of Lederhosen and Dirndls that passed by and meeting some fun new German friends for the evening, we ended up with a second night of hilariously unforgettable memories. 



Overall, the Bergkirchweih gets the Emily Beer Festival Seal of Approval (obviously a very prestigious achievement). A definite must-do for those living in the Franken region or German beer festival enthusiasts. 

*Summer season according to the US student, thereby starting at the end of May. Definitely not according to the country of Germany, where I'm still not entirely convinced summer has even started and it's the end of July.