Bavarians love to celebrate. Why not join?
The following holidays are observed in Bavaria: January 1; January 6 (Epiphany); Good Friday; Easter Monday; May 1 (Workers' Day); Ascension Day; Pentecost Monday; Corpus Christi; August 15 (Assumption Day); October 3 (German Unity Day); November 1 (All Saints' Day); December 24-26 (Christmas).
Festivals and Seasonal Events (see also ENTERTAINMENT section)
Winter
December: Christmas Markets , outdoor festivals of light, choral and trumpet music, handcrafted gift items, and hot wine are held in Munich and just about every other German city.
January: Fasching season . Carnival time includes proclamations of Carnival princes, street fairs, parades, masked balls, and more. There's plenty of activity in Munich and the rest of southern Germany. Festivities always run through February, finishing on Fasching Dienstag (Shrove or Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras).
Spring
March: Strong Beer Season brings out the bands andmerrymaking in all the beer halls.
May: Religious Processions , featuring hundreds of horses, giant candles, and elaborate statues, are particularly spectacular in Catholic Eastern Bavaria during the Pentecost weekend.
Summer
June: Landshut Wedding . This elaborate event has feasting, drama, jousting, and medieval pageantry and takes place in 2001 (it happens every four years).
Fall
Late September-early October: Oktoberfest draws millions of visitors to cavernous beer tents, each with two bands, and to fairgrounds with every kind of carnival attraction imaginable.
November: St. Martin's Festival includes children's lantern processions, and is celebrated throughout the Rhineland and Bavaria.
