Annafest

The Annafest is a Franconian folk festival held yearly about 26 July (St. Anna's day) in the Kellerwald ("Cellar Woods") – not to be confused with the Kellerwald in Hesse - 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 undertake pilgrimages 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 the beer cellars established there by the local brewers (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 Bock beer specially for this festival, the so-called Annafestbier. This is stored for several weeks before the festival begins.

Dates

• 2006: July 22 - July 31
• 2007: July 21 - July 30
• 2008: July 26 - August 4
• 2009: July 25 - August 3
• 2010: July 24 - August 2
• 2011: July 23 - August 1

Annafest in other regions

An Annafest is also held yearly in Düren in the Rhineland, where it is called Annakirmes (Anna parish fair).

Brakel in eastern Westphalia also has an Annafest with a fair. However, they call it Annentag (Anne's Day) there.

External links

• Annafest Forchheim - official page.
• Annafest Forchheim - unofficial page.