Munich shakes off winter with fairs and street parties. The Frühlingsfest opens the fair season on the Theresienwiese, the Maidult fills Mariahilfplatz with stalls and an old chain carousel, and on May 1 neighborhoods and villages raise blue-and-white maypoles. Then whole avenues go car-free for music, skating and climbing. Here's what we checked, from the Frühlingsfest rides to the maypole at Viktualienmarkt.
Munich's spring folk festival opens the season on the Theresienwiese, and locals call it the little sister of Oktoberfest. It is a smaller fair, with a big Ferris wheel, bumper cars, ghost trains, throwing booths and carousels for small kids, plus treat stalls and brass bands in the beer tents.
It suits families who want a taste of the Wiesn on a smaller scale than Oktoberfest.
The Auer Dult is one of Munich's oldest traditions, a market fair that fills Mariahilfplatz in Au three times a year. The spring edition brings about 250 stalls selling pottery, antiques, toys and kitchen gadgets, plus a ride area with bumper cars, a 1919 chain swing carousel, a Ferris wheel and throwing booths. It suits kids who like a few rides and parents who like to browse.
Twice a year, Leopoldstraße in Schwabing closes to cars and becomes one long festival street between the Siegestor and Münchner Freiheit. Stages along the way run from swing and salsa to Bavarian dialect bands, cabaret and electronic music, with art, dance taster classes and football courts in between.
The Corso Leopoldino kids' area has easel painting, crafts and movement games, a good base while the grown-ups browse.
For a weekend, Munich shuts Ludwigstraße to traffic from the Feldherrnhalle to the Siegestor and hands the asphalt to people on foot. Recent editions had a DAV climbing tower, an inline-skate course with a roller disco and a cargo-bike course, alongside stages, art installations and stands from local climate and social groups. It suits families who like to wander and dip in. There is no single show to sit through.
Viktualienmarkt is the Old Town's open-air food market, with more than 100 stalls selling fruit, cheese, bread, honey and flowers around a blue-and-white maypole.
Kids can snack their way through the stalls, spot the six statue fountains of Munich comedians and folk singers, and sit in the central beer garden, where families may bring their own food.
Munich shakes off winter with fairs and street parties. The Frühlingsfest opens the fair season on the Theresienwiese, the Maidult fills Mariahilfplatz with stalls and an old chain carousel, and on May 1 neighborhoods and villages raise blue-and-white maypoles. Then whole avenues go car-free for music, skating and climbing. Here's what we checked, from the Frühlingsfest rides to the maypole at Viktualienmarkt.
Munich's spring folk festival opens the season on the Theresienwiese, and locals call it the little sister of Oktoberfest. It is a smaller fair, with a big Ferris wheel, bumper cars, ghost trains, throwing booths and carousels for small kids, plus treat stalls and brass bands in the beer tents.
It suits families who want a taste of the Wiesn on a smaller scale than Oktoberfest.
The Auer Dult is one of Munich's oldest traditions, a market fair that fills Mariahilfplatz in Au three times a year. The spring edition brings about 250 stalls selling pottery, antiques, toys and kitchen gadgets, plus a ride area with bumper cars, a 1919 chain swing carousel, a Ferris wheel and throwing booths. It suits kids who like a few rides and parents who like to browse.
Twice a year, Leopoldstraße in Schwabing closes to cars and becomes one long festival street between the Siegestor and Münchner Freiheit. Stages along the way run from swing and salsa to Bavarian dialect bands, cabaret and electronic music, with art, dance taster classes and football courts in between.
The Corso Leopoldino kids' area has easel painting, crafts and movement games, a good base while the grown-ups browse.
For a weekend, Munich shuts Ludwigstraße to traffic from the Feldherrnhalle to the Siegestor and hands the asphalt to people on foot. Recent editions had a DAV climbing tower, an inline-skate course with a roller disco and a cargo-bike course, alongside stages, art installations and stands from local climate and social groups. It suits families who like to wander and dip in. There is no single show to sit through.
Viktualienmarkt is the Old Town's open-air food market, with more than 100 stalls selling fruit, cheese, bread, honey and flowers around a blue-and-white maypole.
Kids can snack their way through the stalls, spot the six statue fountains of Munich comedians and folk singers, and sit in the central beer garden, where families may bring their own food.
