Germany's biggest festivals

Bavaria's neighbor Baden-Württemberg has its own big bash: The Cannstatter Wasen, also drawing crowds of some four million every year in late September and early October. The 35-hectare fairgrounds, called the "Wasen," are in Stuttgart's Bad Cannstatt quarter. King William I of Württemberg and his Russian wife Katharina launched the festival in 1818.

The undisputed largest festival in Germany is the Oktoberfest. Every year, over six million guests come to party the Bavarian way. Most head straight to the beer tents, even lining up in the early morning hours to grab one of the coveted seats, as here in the Augustiner tent.

Beer tents and brass bands aren't limited to Bavaria. North Rhine-Westphalia, too, can boast festivals that bring down the house. The biggest is the Kermess on the Rhine, with annual crowds numbering a good four million. The festival lasts ten days through the third week of July. Rides like the ferris wheel, log flumes and roller coasters are the funfair highlights.

Fifty attractions and five whole kilometers of booths and concessions make up North Rhine-Westphalia's second largest festival. The Cranger Kermess in the Ruhr Valley city of Herne tallies annual guest figures of close to four million. It goes on for 10 days, starting the first Friday in August. A special feature is the horse market and show the day before opening.

The world's biggest marksmen's festival is held every year in Hanover to celebrate the end of the municipal shooting competitions. For ten days, about a million people crowd into the fairgrounds. The high point is the parade of the marksmen (pictured here). But even the anti-gun lobby can find plenty to do here - if simply partying isn't enough.

The Bremen Free Fair looks back on a long history. Emperor Conrad II granted Bremen the right to hold the fair in 1035, allowing farmers, craftsmen and traders to sell their wares in the town center with no special restrictions. Now, almost a millennium later, the Free Fair runs for 17 days in October and includes a procession, booths and fairground rides.

As with the Bremen Free Fair, the origins of the Hamburger Dom date back to the 11th century, when traders, craftsmen and jesters set up a market in and around the Hamburg Cathedral. The original building no longer exists, but the reveling lived on and grew into a festival that draws around four million partiers three times a year: The Hamburger Dom is held in spring, summer and winter.

The Kiel Week is an international sailing event and one of Germany's biggest festivals. It takes place during the last week of June in the Baltic port city, roping in some 3.5 million landlubbers every year. The climax is the windjammer parade of about 100 historical and tall ships. There are booths, rides and live shows on shore.

Over 1.6 million people come together to celebrate the Libori Festival in Paderborn in late July. It's a blend of church festival, kermess, culture, performances and flea market. The celebration has its origin in the translation of the relics of Saint Liborius of Le Mans to Paderborn in the year 836 C.E.

The Hamburg Port Anniversary is the world's biggest port festival with a program of events for land, sea and air. Every year in May, around 1.5 million people throng the waterfront to celebrate. Special highlights include the fireworks, ship christenings and parades. This year, the port of Hamburg turned 827 years old.