Fresh air, room to run, and nobody shushing them. This list gathers the family events that take place in the open air, from fun runs and park festivals to lantern walks and outdoor parties. It updates itself as new dates come in, with the soonest at the top, so it's worth a look before each weekend.
St. Martin's Day is when German kids carry lanterns through dark streets singing "Ich geh mit meiner Laterne". Most parades start at a church with a short service or the story of Martin sharing his cloak, then walk the neighborhood with brass music, sometimes behind St. Martin on horseback.
Some end at a Martin's fire with sweet bread and kids' punch. Nobody needs German to walk along.
On St. Martin's Day, kids across Germany carry glowing lanterns through dark streets, singing songs their parents still know by heart.
In Frankfurt, parishes lead short neighborhood walks, and some have St. Martin riding ahead on horseback. Several end at a bonfire with Martinswecken, sweet buns shared in honor of the soldier who split his cloak with a beggar.
An ecumenical St. Martin celebration put on by the parish at St. Josef church in Höchst.
After the service, families head outside and kids carry their lanterns in a procession to Schlossplatz. The service is in German, but the lantern walk needs no German at all, so it suits any family with a kid and a lantern.
The Martinsfeuer marks St. Martin's Day with a big bonfire, warm drinks and the story of the soldier who cut his cloak in half for a freezing beggar. Here, kids from the Günthersburg adventure playground tell that story as a shadow play, a church brass choir plays, and little ones ride a kids' carousel. The organizers call it Frankfurt's biggest Martinsfeuer, now in its 30th year.
A guided walk through Opel-Zoo in the autumn dusk, lanterns in hand. The group heads out to visit the animals as the light fades, and anyone who wants to can sing lantern songs along the way, with music to go with them.
Kids can bring their own lantern from home. It suits kindergarten and grade-school kids who can manage a longer walk outdoors as it gets dark.
An ecumenical St. Martin's celebration at St. Bartholomäus church in Zeilsheim, with a Martinsspiel, the St. Martin's play. Afterward everyone sets off together on a lantern procession.
Kids bring their own lantern and carry it on the walk. The service and play are in German, so it suits families happy to follow along in German, and kindergarten and primary-age kids most of all.
A small Christmas market at the edge of the Stadtwald, right under the Goetheturm, Sachsenhausen's wooden lookout tower. Stalls sell crepes, roasted chestnuts, potato pancakes, raclette and hot apple wine, alongside handmade crafts like glass-bead jewelry and lambskins.
For kids there is a carousel, and the big forest play park sits next door, so it suits families who want a run-around between snacks.
An outdoor ice rink in the Kurpark, set in front of the historic Kaiser-Wilhelms-Bad, with the decorated Brunnenallee and a huge Christmas tree beside it. Kids can take their first wobbly laps or practice spins.
Families can also book a lane for Eisstockschießen, a German curling game played in teams of four or five. A chalet next to the rink sells hot drinks and warm snacks.
The Kinderweihnachtsmarkt is the kids' corner of the Frankfurt Christmas market, set on the Mainkai just east of the Eiserner Steg.
Kids get a mix of hands-on activities and festive attractions, so it suits families who want a market stop built around the children. Parents can carry on to the rest of the Christmas market afterward.
Hanau's main Christmas market fills the Marktplatz around the Brothers Grimm monument with lit wooden stalls that smell of roasted almonds, grilled sausages and mulled wine.
For kids, the draw is the Ferris wheel and a two-level carousel, with local bands, brass bands and choirs on the Christmas stage. It is smaller and calmer than Frankfurt's Römerberg market, which suits a late-afternoon wander with younger kids.
Frankfurt's Christmas market runs as one long string of stalls through the old center, with a giant tree on Römerberg square. Kids ride the carousels, try Bethmännchen (marzipan with three almonds) and spot trees decorated by local children.
For families, the stretch to aim for is the kids' market on the Mainkai by the river, with a craft room, a historic carousel and a lit-up Christmas ship.
Wiesbaden's main Christmas market fills the square around the Marktkirche with close to 100 stalls of gifts, decorations, jewelry and crafts, plus more than 20 food stands pouring kids' punch and hot drinks. A stage in front of the town hall runs a program, and the city nativity scene stands by the big tree.
A short walk away, the separate kids' market adds an elves' forest, a train and a carousel.
Mainz's historic Christmas market fills the square in front of the 1,000-year-old cathedral and spills onto the Höfchen and Liebfrauenplatz, under painted Renaissance house fronts.
Kids head for the two old-fashioned carousels, the stalls of handmade toys, and the 11-meter Christmas pyramid crowded with Mainz figures, from a carnival jester to Gutenberg. The life-size carved nativity sits beside the cathedral. Go once the lights come on.
One of Germany's largest mobile ice rinks fills the Bowling Green lawn in front of Wiesbaden's Kurhaus each winter, with skaters looping around the two historic fountains on 100-meter laps.
Rental skates, skating aids for wobbly beginners and lockers are on site, and ice-stock lanes (Bavarian-style curling) sit right in front of the Kurhaus. It suits first-timers and confident skaters alike.
A Christmas market set in and around the walls of Bad Homburg's old landgraves' palace, with each courtyard decorated in its own style. Stalls mix regional food and drink with a large share of handmade crafts.
For kids there are treats, small program moments, a children's carousel and a real miniature steam train running at the foot of the White Tower.
A whole medieval castle turns into a Christmas market. Small stalls fill the rooms of Burg Ronneburg with crafts, gift ideas, waffles and mulled wine, and outside the walls a medieval market adds traders and craftspeople. A living nativity play tells the Christmas story.
It suits kids who like castles and costumes, and families happy to wander, browse and snack.
Hessenpark is an open-air museum of old Hessian farmhouses and workshops in the Taunus hills, and in Advent it dresses up for Christmas. Decorated parlors show how families once got ready for the holidays, the forge glows and the bakehouse smells of fresh baking. Kids can ride a steam train, watch a big Märklin model railway, craft ornaments and toast stick bread over fire pits.
An evening walk through Frankfurt's botanical garden, lit by about 30 light installations. Giant glowing moons, snowdrops and floating hearts hang over the paths and trees, with music, video projections and a few interactive light pieces along the way.
The route is outdoors and on foot, so it suits kids who can walk a while in the cold. Younger ones tend to like the big, bright shapes most.
The Frankfurter Feldbahnmuseum looks after field railways: the small narrow-gauge trains once used on building sites, farms and in industry. On running days its historic trains carry families through Rebstockpark.
The St. Nicholas edition is the museum's last running day of the year. One ticket covers as many rides as you like, so kids can get off to look at the engines and ride again.
Fastnacht weekend brings two parades into Frankfurt's old town. Saturday's children's parade is short and made for kids, followed by the carnival prince and princess storming the Römer, the city hall, for its keys.
Sunday's big parade is the main event: floats, carnival guards in uniform, marching bands and dance troupes, with sweets thrown into the crowd. It suits families who can handle crowds and noise.
Mainz's Rosenmontagszug is the biggest day of the city's Fastnacht: a long parade of decorated floats, marching carnival guards in uniform, brass bands and the Schwellköpp, the oversized papier-mâché heads that star in the 2027 motto.
Kids line the curb in costume, shout "Helau" and catch sweets thrown from the wagons. It suits families happy in big crowds; with a stroller, pick a spot early or see little.
Klaa Paris, the local nickname for Heddernheim, has held a carnival parade through its narrow village lanes since 1839, making it the oldest in Frankfurt. Around 1,500 carnival club members, marching bands and floats wind through the old center, throwing sweets (Kamelle) into the crowd.
Expect big crowds, with around 100,000 people along the route, so it suits kids who don't mind noise and being packed in.
Dippemess is Frankfurt's big traditional funfair, held twice a year on the fairground next to the Eissporthalle. Kids ride classic carousels, spinning rides, a roller coaster and the Ferris wheel, which looks out over the city at dusk.
Between rides there's cotton candy, crêpes and candied almonds. It suits kids who love rides and can handle noise, bright lights and evening crowds.
Hanau is the birthplace of the Brothers Grimm, and since 1985 the city has staged their fairy tales outdoors in the park of Schloss Philippsruhe. Each season brings three new fairy-tale productions, a musical, a play with music and a family play, plus plays for older teens and adults. Shows are in German, so this suits kids who follow a story by watching.
Wäldchestag is Frankfurt's own folk festival, a fair that sets up among the trees of the Stadtwald around Oberforsthaus. Kids get a Ferris wheel, chair swings, carousels and prize stalls, while parents sit in beer gardens with apple wine and sausages in the shade.
Afternoons suit families best. Evenings lean toward adults, with stage music and drinks until late.
Hessentag is Hesse's state festival, hosted by a different town each year. In 2027 it comes to Idstein, a half-timbered old town in the Taunus hills that last hosted it in 2002. Expect live music, food stalls, local clubs and, by tradition, a big costume parade.
For kids, the draw is "Der Natur auf der Spur", a family nature area in the Wörsbachaue meadows, run by the state environment ministry with HessenForst.
Mainfest is Frankfurt's old riverside folk festival, rooted in a fishermen's feast from the Middle Ages. The Main embankment and the Römerberg fill with traditional rides, a Ferris wheel, regional food stalls and a culture program.
Kids tend to remember the Fischerstechen: jousters in historical costume stand on narrow boats and try to push each other into the river with padded poles. It suits families who enjoy a busy fair.
Bad Homburg's town festival has run since 1935, with children at its center. Lit floats built around a yearly theme roll through the streets on two evenings, and a Sunday-morning kids' fair on the Brunnenallee has games for points, face painting and a balloon race.
The finale is the children's parade: school and kindergarten groups carry homemade lanterns through the Kurpark to the Jubiläumspark, where fireworks close the festival.
Fresh air, room to run, and nobody shushing them. This list gathers the family events that take place in the open air, from fun runs and park festivals to lantern walks and outdoor parties. It updates itself as new dates come in, with the soonest at the top, so it's worth a look before each weekend.
St. Martin's Day is when German kids carry lanterns through dark streets singing "Ich geh mit meiner Laterne". Most parades start at a church with a short service or the story of Martin sharing his cloak, then walk the neighborhood with brass music, sometimes behind St. Martin on horseback.
Some end at a Martin's fire with sweet bread and kids' punch. Nobody needs German to walk along.
On St. Martin's Day, kids across Germany carry glowing lanterns through dark streets, singing songs their parents still know by heart.
In Frankfurt, parishes lead short neighborhood walks, and some have St. Martin riding ahead on horseback. Several end at a bonfire with Martinswecken, sweet buns shared in honor of the soldier who split his cloak with a beggar.
An ecumenical St. Martin celebration put on by the parish at St. Josef church in Höchst.
After the service, families head outside and kids carry their lanterns in a procession to Schlossplatz. The service is in German, but the lantern walk needs no German at all, so it suits any family with a kid and a lantern.
The Martinsfeuer marks St. Martin's Day with a big bonfire, warm drinks and the story of the soldier who cut his cloak in half for a freezing beggar. Here, kids from the Günthersburg adventure playground tell that story as a shadow play, a church brass choir plays, and little ones ride a kids' carousel. The organizers call it Frankfurt's biggest Martinsfeuer, now in its 30th year.
A guided walk through Opel-Zoo in the autumn dusk, lanterns in hand. The group heads out to visit the animals as the light fades, and anyone who wants to can sing lantern songs along the way, with music to go with them.
Kids can bring their own lantern from home. It suits kindergarten and grade-school kids who can manage a longer walk outdoors as it gets dark.
An ecumenical St. Martin's celebration at St. Bartholomäus church in Zeilsheim, with a Martinsspiel, the St. Martin's play. Afterward everyone sets off together on a lantern procession.
Kids bring their own lantern and carry it on the walk. The service and play are in German, so it suits families happy to follow along in German, and kindergarten and primary-age kids most of all.
A small Christmas market at the edge of the Stadtwald, right under the Goetheturm, Sachsenhausen's wooden lookout tower. Stalls sell crepes, roasted chestnuts, potato pancakes, raclette and hot apple wine, alongside handmade crafts like glass-bead jewelry and lambskins.
For kids there is a carousel, and the big forest play park sits next door, so it suits families who want a run-around between snacks.
An outdoor ice rink in the Kurpark, set in front of the historic Kaiser-Wilhelms-Bad, with the decorated Brunnenallee and a huge Christmas tree beside it. Kids can take their first wobbly laps or practice spins.
Families can also book a lane for Eisstockschießen, a German curling game played in teams of four or five. A chalet next to the rink sells hot drinks and warm snacks.
The Kinderweihnachtsmarkt is the kids' corner of the Frankfurt Christmas market, set on the Mainkai just east of the Eiserner Steg.
Kids get a mix of hands-on activities and festive attractions, so it suits families who want a market stop built around the children. Parents can carry on to the rest of the Christmas market afterward.
Hanau's main Christmas market fills the Marktplatz around the Brothers Grimm monument with lit wooden stalls that smell of roasted almonds, grilled sausages and mulled wine.
For kids, the draw is the Ferris wheel and a two-level carousel, with local bands, brass bands and choirs on the Christmas stage. It is smaller and calmer than Frankfurt's Römerberg market, which suits a late-afternoon wander with younger kids.
Frankfurt's Christmas market runs as one long string of stalls through the old center, with a giant tree on Römerberg square. Kids ride the carousels, try Bethmännchen (marzipan with three almonds) and spot trees decorated by local children.
For families, the stretch to aim for is the kids' market on the Mainkai by the river, with a craft room, a historic carousel and a lit-up Christmas ship.
Wiesbaden's main Christmas market fills the square around the Marktkirche with close to 100 stalls of gifts, decorations, jewelry and crafts, plus more than 20 food stands pouring kids' punch and hot drinks. A stage in front of the town hall runs a program, and the city nativity scene stands by the big tree.
A short walk away, the separate kids' market adds an elves' forest, a train and a carousel.
Mainz's historic Christmas market fills the square in front of the 1,000-year-old cathedral and spills onto the Höfchen and Liebfrauenplatz, under painted Renaissance house fronts.
Kids head for the two old-fashioned carousels, the stalls of handmade toys, and the 11-meter Christmas pyramid crowded with Mainz figures, from a carnival jester to Gutenberg. The life-size carved nativity sits beside the cathedral. Go once the lights come on.
One of Germany's largest mobile ice rinks fills the Bowling Green lawn in front of Wiesbaden's Kurhaus each winter, with skaters looping around the two historic fountains on 100-meter laps.
Rental skates, skating aids for wobbly beginners and lockers are on site, and ice-stock lanes (Bavarian-style curling) sit right in front of the Kurhaus. It suits first-timers and confident skaters alike.
A Christmas market set in and around the walls of Bad Homburg's old landgraves' palace, with each courtyard decorated in its own style. Stalls mix regional food and drink with a large share of handmade crafts.
For kids there are treats, small program moments, a children's carousel and a real miniature steam train running at the foot of the White Tower.
A whole medieval castle turns into a Christmas market. Small stalls fill the rooms of Burg Ronneburg with crafts, gift ideas, waffles and mulled wine, and outside the walls a medieval market adds traders and craftspeople. A living nativity play tells the Christmas story.
It suits kids who like castles and costumes, and families happy to wander, browse and snack.
Hessenpark is an open-air museum of old Hessian farmhouses and workshops in the Taunus hills, and in Advent it dresses up for Christmas. Decorated parlors show how families once got ready for the holidays, the forge glows and the bakehouse smells of fresh baking. Kids can ride a steam train, watch a big Märklin model railway, craft ornaments and toast stick bread over fire pits.
An evening walk through Frankfurt's botanical garden, lit by about 30 light installations. Giant glowing moons, snowdrops and floating hearts hang over the paths and trees, with music, video projections and a few interactive light pieces along the way.
The route is outdoors and on foot, so it suits kids who can walk a while in the cold. Younger ones tend to like the big, bright shapes most.
The Frankfurter Feldbahnmuseum looks after field railways: the small narrow-gauge trains once used on building sites, farms and in industry. On running days its historic trains carry families through Rebstockpark.
The St. Nicholas edition is the museum's last running day of the year. One ticket covers as many rides as you like, so kids can get off to look at the engines and ride again.
Fastnacht weekend brings two parades into Frankfurt's old town. Saturday's children's parade is short and made for kids, followed by the carnival prince and princess storming the Römer, the city hall, for its keys.
Sunday's big parade is the main event: floats, carnival guards in uniform, marching bands and dance troupes, with sweets thrown into the crowd. It suits families who can handle crowds and noise.
Mainz's Rosenmontagszug is the biggest day of the city's Fastnacht: a long parade of decorated floats, marching carnival guards in uniform, brass bands and the Schwellköpp, the oversized papier-mâché heads that star in the 2027 motto.
Kids line the curb in costume, shout "Helau" and catch sweets thrown from the wagons. It suits families happy in big crowds; with a stroller, pick a spot early or see little.
Klaa Paris, the local nickname for Heddernheim, has held a carnival parade through its narrow village lanes since 1839, making it the oldest in Frankfurt. Around 1,500 carnival club members, marching bands and floats wind through the old center, throwing sweets (Kamelle) into the crowd.
Expect big crowds, with around 100,000 people along the route, so it suits kids who don't mind noise and being packed in.
Dippemess is Frankfurt's big traditional funfair, held twice a year on the fairground next to the Eissporthalle. Kids ride classic carousels, spinning rides, a roller coaster and the Ferris wheel, which looks out over the city at dusk.
Between rides there's cotton candy, crêpes and candied almonds. It suits kids who love rides and can handle noise, bright lights and evening crowds.
Hanau is the birthplace of the Brothers Grimm, and since 1985 the city has staged their fairy tales outdoors in the park of Schloss Philippsruhe. Each season brings three new fairy-tale productions, a musical, a play with music and a family play, plus plays for older teens and adults. Shows are in German, so this suits kids who follow a story by watching.
Wäldchestag is Frankfurt's own folk festival, a fair that sets up among the trees of the Stadtwald around Oberforsthaus. Kids get a Ferris wheel, chair swings, carousels and prize stalls, while parents sit in beer gardens with apple wine and sausages in the shade.
Afternoons suit families best. Evenings lean toward adults, with stage music and drinks until late.
Hessentag is Hesse's state festival, hosted by a different town each year. In 2027 it comes to Idstein, a half-timbered old town in the Taunus hills that last hosted it in 2002. Expect live music, food stalls, local clubs and, by tradition, a big costume parade.
For kids, the draw is "Der Natur auf der Spur", a family nature area in the Wörsbachaue meadows, run by the state environment ministry with HessenForst.
Mainfest is Frankfurt's old riverside folk festival, rooted in a fishermen's feast from the Middle Ages. The Main embankment and the Römerberg fill with traditional rides, a Ferris wheel, regional food stalls and a culture program.
Kids tend to remember the Fischerstechen: jousters in historical costume stand on narrow boats and try to push each other into the river with padded poles. It suits families who enjoy a busy fair.
Bad Homburg's town festival has run since 1935, with children at its center. Lit floats built around a yearly theme roll through the streets on two evenings, and a Sunday-morning kids' fair on the Brunnenallee has games for points, face painting and a balloon race.
The finale is the children's parade: school and kindergarten groups carry homemade lanterns through the Kurpark to the Jubiläumspark, where fireworks close the festival.
