Festivals, parades and events: Germany`s living

“Traditions and Customs” campaign theme 2015
Festivals,
traditions
parades
and
events:
Germany's
living
Frankfurt am Main, 15 December 2014 – One of Germany’s best loved traditions is to
celebrate its ancient customs and have a good time. Customs and traditions shape the
authenticity of Germany’s rural regions and are still alive and relevant today. These
“Living Traditions” are one of the three aspects of the campaign theme “Traditions and
Customs” of Destination Germany which the German National Tourist Board (GNTB) will
present in 2015.
According to the GNTB Quality Monitor, the aspect “History and tradition” is a decision
criterion for one in every five foreign travellers visiting Germany. Visitors particularly from
high-volume source markets such as Spain, the USA, the Netherlands and Great Britain
consider historic traditions important when choosing their travel destination. For
overseas visitors, events which involve customs and traditional folk music showed the
highest interest: more than 10% of visitors from China, India, Brazil and the USA visit
events with traditional German celebrations and music.
Around three million events per year offer a rich variety of entertainment for visitors. In
2014 alone there were 1,447 music festivals in all regions of Germany. Sports and
cultural events, local festivities and exhibitions are also great opportunities to celebrate
in a traditional way with visitors from around the world. A large part of these annual
events take place in rural areas and offer great possibilities for visitors to experience the
special features and traditions of individual regions.
The top 10 source markets for travels to events in Germany in 2013 were from Europe,
closely followed by the USA, ranking 11th. According to the GNTB Quality Monitor,
events were one of the main reasons for around 25% of visitors in their decision on
Germany as a destination.
Visitors can experience Germans traditions throughout the year and in all regions: At the
North Frisian Biike bonfires, winter spirits are dispelled with huge fires at the beginning of
the year. Walpurgis Night, a large witch festival on Mount Brocken in the Harz mountains
according to folklore, is nowadays celebrated in the cities as “Tanz in den Mai” (Dance
into May). Numerous festivals, wine festivals and other festivities fill the events calendar
in the summer months. Many of these are events of distinction. The world’s largest
marksmen’s festival, for example, is celebrated in Hannover every year. The Munich
Beer Festival may have innumerable copycats in the world, but the original “Wies’n”
belongs to Bavaria and attracts more than six million visitors from around the world. The
Alp to Valley Cattle Drove (Almabtrieb) in Upper Bavaria and Allgäu at the end of the
summer and the atmospheric, regional Christmas markets are further popular attractions
until New Year’s Eve. Then around one million visitors celebrate at the Brandenburg
Gate in Berlin by seeing off the old year and welcoming the new one.
Traditional customs are experienced differently in German regions: The traveller can
experience the pagan tradition of 'driving out the winter' during the Swabian-Alemannic
“Fasnet”, for example, in a completely different fashion than the Rhenish street carnival,
which in turn is celebrated differently in Düsseldorf than in Mainz or Cologne, or at the
historic parade in Wasungen, Thuringia.
Many of these practised traditions are so original that the German states want them
recognised as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. Examples include shanty music
on the North Sea coast, the famous game of Skat from Altenburg and the widely spread
marksmen’s festivals.
Events
and
dates
for
“Traditions
and
Customs”
can
be
found
at
www.germany.travel/tradition.
L'Office National Allemand du Tourisme
L'Office National Allemand du Tourisme (ONAT), dont le siège se trouve à Francfort-sur-le-Main,
est le « syndicat d'initiative » national de l'Allemagne. Il promeut les activités touristiques de
l'Allemagne pour le compte du ministère fédéral de l'Économie et de l’Energie (BMWi), qui lui
apporte son soutien en vertu d'une décision du Parlement fédéral allemand. L'ONAT élabore et
communique des stratégies et des produits visant à renforcer l'image positive des destinations
touristiques allemandes à l'étranger et à stimuler le tourisme en Allemagne. Pour mener à bien
cette mission, il possède 30 représentations locales dans le monde. Pour plus d'informations,
consultez notre centre de presse en ligne à l'adresse www.germany.travel/presse.