What's on in Baden-Baden, Germany through the year

Peak crowds — Christkindelsmarkt, Christmas holidays in Germany

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Christkindelsmarkt (26 Nov – 6 Jan)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Busy — Easter holidays in Germany, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Easter Festival at the Festspielhaus

  15 Mar – 20 Apr · usuallyMusic festivalBook early

  Opera and orchestral concerts at Germany's largest opera house in the days before Easter. The Berlin Philharmonic went back to Salzburg in 2026 and guest orchestras now carry it, but the spa hotels still fill with concertgoers. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Easter holidays

  3–6 AprEaster & Holy WeekClosuresCrowded

  Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays everywhere, and shops close on Friday, Sunday and Monday. Good Friday is a quiet day with dance and loud-event bans in most states, and Germans use the four-day weekend to travel, so trains, motorways and holiday towns are busy. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Easter holidays, Easter holidays in Germany

• Holiday

  Ascension and Whitsun

  14–25 MayNational holidayClosuresCrowded

  Ascension Day, a Thursday 39 days after Easter, and Whit Monday 11 days later are public holidays nationwide. Shops close on both, many people bridge them into long weekends, and trains, motorways and hotels in holiday areas get busy. Source ↗

Still on: Easter Festival at the Festspielhaus (15 Mar – 20 Apr (usually)), Easter holidays (3–6 Apr)

Peak crowds — Ascension and Whitsun, Whitsun/Pentecost holidays in Germany

• Festival

  Iffezheim spring meeting

  4–7 JunSporting eventCrowded

  The first of the three race meetings at Iffezheim, twenty minutes out of town, with the thoroughbred sales alongside it. Smaller and easier to get into than the August week. Source ↗

• Nature

  Roses on the Beutig

  25 May – 10 Jul · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The city's rose-novelty garden on the Beutig hill hosts one of Europe's oldest competitions for new varieties, judged in June when the beds are in full bloom. Visitors can walk the trial beds and vote for a favourite. Source ↗

Still on: Ascension and Whitsun (14–25 May)

Busy — Iffezheim spring meeting, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Ascension and Whitsun (14–25 May), Iffezheim spring meeting (4–7 Jun), Roses on the Beutig (25 May – 10 Jul (usually))

Peak crowds — International Oldtimer Meeting, Summer holidays in Germany

• Festival

  International Oldtimer Meeting

  5–20 Jul · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Several hundred classic cars built before 1980 parked through the Kurpark and along the Kaiserallee for a weekend in July, with the spa gardens hung with paper lanterns in the evening. Free to wander. Source ↗

Still on: Roses on the Beutig (25 May – 10 Jul (usually))

Peak crowds — Grosse Woche racing, Summer holidays in Germany

• Festival

  Grosse Woche racing

  29 Aug – 6 SepSporting eventCrowdedBook early

  Germany's biggest race meeting, five days at Iffezheim ending with the Grosser Preis von Baden. The spa hotels fill with people who came to dress up rather than to take the water. Source ↗

Busy — Grosse Woche racing, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Grosse Woche racing (29 Aug – 6 Sep)

Peak crowds — Sales & Racing Festival, Autumn holidays in Germany

• Nature

  Autumn in the Lichtentaler Allee

  8 Oct – 8 Nov · usuallyAutumn colour

  The two-kilometre park along the Oos turns through October, and the Black Forest slopes behind it a week or so later. It is the one time the promenade is worth the walk end to end.

• Festival

  Sales & Racing Festival

  16–18 OctSporting eventCrowded

  Two race days in mid-October wrapped around the yearling auction, plus an Oktoberfest race day. The last busy weekend before the town settles into its winter cure season. Source ↗

Busy — Christkindelsmarkt, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Christkindelsmarkt

  26 Nov – 6 JanChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Chalets fill the square in front of the Kurhaus and stay up past New Year, later than most German markets. Free to enter, and busiest on the weekend afternoons. Source ↗

Still on: Autumn in the Lichtentaler Allee (8 Oct – 8 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Christkindelsmarkt, Christmas holidays in Germany

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Christkindelsmarkt (26 Nov – 6 Jan)