- Annafest
The Annafest is a
Franconia nfolk festival held yearly about26 July (St. Anna's day) in the "Kellerwald" ("Cellar Wood" – not to be confused with theKellerwald inHesse ) in the town of Forchheim. The ten-day festival can draw as many as 500,000 visitors – more than 15 times the town's population.Annafest's history
In 1516, in a small place called Unterweilersbach near Forchheim, a
chapel was consecrated to St. Anna. The Forchheim townsfolk encouraged others to undertakepilgrimage s to the site. On the way back, the pilgrims would stop for a rest in the "Kellerwald" to regain their strength with a bit of help from thebeer cellar found there (which explains the wood's name). The pilgrims' kin, who had stayed behind, would come to the wood, bringing their family members food and drink. At that time, of course, the beer would also be drunk.In 1840, when the Forchheim shooting club shifted its main shooting ground from the "shooting meadow" on the river
Regnitz to the "Kellerwald", the folk festival began to develop.The local breweries Hebendanz, Greif, Eichhorn and Neder all brew a strong beer specially for this festival, the so-called "Annafestbier". This is stored for several weeks before the festival begins.
Dates
* 2006: 22nd - 31st July
* 2007: 21st - 30 July
* 2008: July 26 - August 4Annafest in other regions
The Annafest is also held yearly in
Düren , where it is also called Annakirmes.Brakel in eastern
Westphalia also has an Annafest with a fair. However, they call it Annentag there.External links
* [http://www.nn-forchheim.de/thema.asp?thema=73 Annafest Forchheim] - official page.
* [http://www.webfo.franken.de/html/annafest.html Annafest Forchheim] - unofficial page.
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