Castle and wine festival
The castle and wine festival in Wachenheim an der Weinstrasse is a wine festival that takes place annually on the second and third weekend in June. The wine festival is one of the major wine festivals along the wine route , with visitors from all over the Rhine-Neckar area.
development
The wine festival is the central event for the Wachenheim community and was first held in 1972 after the war. The character of the central wine festival for the association was underpinned by a joint bar of the communities Friedelsheim and Gönnheim . First, the wine festival developed on the town hall square and the Wachtenburg , where the name came from. Over the years, the wine festival expanded to the market square and the area behind the church ("hinner de Kerch"). Since then, the German Wine Route in the city area has been closed during the wine festival.
event
A fixed item on the program is the opening of the wine festival at the Wachtenburg. Well-known artists from the region are invited to the supporting program. The "historical trike competition for the Wachenheimer Weinzehnt" is performed irregularly. This is based on a legend according to which the Wachenheimers were able to free themselves from the required wine tithing by winning the drinking contest.
As with many wine festivals along the Wine Route, the parking situation is tense on the holidays. This is counteracted by designating parking spaces in the vineyards and by special train trips.
The wine festival only takes place in a few wineries and mostly in three central locations in Wachenheim:
- the fairground at the town hall
- the festival area on the market square and "hinner de Kerch"
- on the Wachtenburg
This differs from most other wine festivals. The reason for this lies in the comparatively small number of self-marketing wineries in Wachenheim. With the Sektkellerei Schloss Wachenheim , the Wachtenburg Winzer eG and the Dr. Bürklin-Wolf has three large companies in Wachenheim, but only a few self-marketers.
The walking distance between the Wachtenburg and the festival area Rathausplatz is about 1.5 km, so a shuttle bus service to the castle and back is offered for a small fee. For most wine festival visitors, a visit to the castle is a must to enjoy the view over the town and the Rhine valley with a glass of wine or a spritzer.
The wine festival is strongly characterized by various music performances, so extensive music and entertainment programs are offered at all three of the places mentioned, but also in the Schloss Wachenheim sparkling wine cellar .