Germany over the next six weeks

Hanover, Germany

Hanover's Schützenfest claims world's-biggest status and backs it with ten days of parade, fairground, and marksmen columns.

Burgebrach, Germany

Burgebrach's sports club lights the Steigerwald's midsummer bonfire — the whole community gathering as June turns warm.

Fulda, Germany

Each year a different Hessian town hosts the Hessentag — the state parade, concerts, and craft fairs arriving like a traveling capital.

Bremen, Germany

Bremen turns its Weser riverbank into a free summer festival for five days — grassroots, open-air, and entirely Bremen.

Hildesheim, Germany

Hildesheim stages four days of marksmen's parade, fairground rides, and folk music at the old Lademuhle grounds.

Germany

Berlin's Kreuzbergstrasse fills with multicultural food, music, and community spirit, the Kreuzberg Festival neighborhood-made since 1994.

Lauenburg/Elbe, Germany

Lauenburg parades its marksmen along the Elbe and crowns a Schützenkönig, the old guild tradition intact.

Darmstadt, Germany

Darmstadt fills its castle moat with four days of rock, pop, and jazz, the Schlossgrabenfest free and open-air since the nineties.