The Dürkheimer Wurstfest -- Largest Wine Festival in Germany

The Dürkheimer Wurstfest is held in the huge northern parking lot and fairgrounds just below the hill from downtown.  It has two sections of amusement rides (this shot was taken from a ferris wheel), plus festival game booths, all sorts of food and drink, and flea markets selling antiques, specialty items, etc.  The long white tents in the foreground are where the local vineyards set up their wine bars.

In the background of the opening shot and in close up here is the famous Dürkheimer Riesenfass, the world's biggest "barrel" and symbol of the fair.  It was a really beautiful sunny day, and not too hot, either.  By around 1PM, the crowds were getting super thick, so after a bit of lunch, my group toured the Kurhaus and Schlossgarten.  (see more about these in the regular Bad Dürkheim page.

The next several shots show some of the wine bars.  There were three forms of them -- the Winzergarten, Fest-Tent, and Weingut.  The Winzergarten, or Vintner's Garden, was outdoor café style, a relaxed and charming atmosphere with good food and plenty of wine from eight different local vineyards.

This was the interior to one of Fest-Tents (festival tent, about the size of a football field inside), which reminded me of the tents in the Munich Oktoberfest.  Colorful interior, long row tables with happy people eating, drinking, and singing, and live bands (what we Americans like to refer to as 'oom-pah-pah' music).

This is the weingut section, where each vineyard had one long tent where they served wine and soft drinks.  The only food available there were pretzels (there was a special name for them, but I didn't write them down).  The row tables inside were very tightly packed, and always full of people.  Seemed like everyone had their favorite wine... and they drank lots of it.

See what I mean?  This is the one thing you gotta watch when you go...  wine sold in the weinguts comes in half-liter (pint-sized) glasses.  You read that right.  Needless to say, we didn't get much of a chance to do any sampling (I was designated driver, so I wasn't sampling anything anyway).  Obviously, this sort of activity won't find its way to the states anytime soon...  :-)

Between the festival tents and the street bands, like this one, there was plenty of music.  As 4PM approached, the crowds were very thick, and we took off.  The line of cars getting in was about two miles long, so the best advice is get there early!

Despite the unfavorable weather (incredibly hot and dry) this season, much of the Rheinland stayed surprisingly green, and some claim that this turned out to be a great year for wine.  I shall take their word for it, but I can say from experience that the wine *festival* is a great time.