Main Festival

Main Festival, also commonly known as Mainfest, is a traditional German folk festival that you don’t want to miss out on this summer! Honouring the Main River as the “lifeblood of the city”, this four-day festival offers everything you would want to experience at such an event, like fairground rides, game stalls, food tents and live music.

Attracting hundreds of thousands of local and international visitors each year, Mainfest in Frankfurt welcomes people of all ages as one of the biggest city festivals for the entire family. Taking place annually by Römer on the banks of the river Main, the festival closes with a huge firework display.

The history behind Main Festival

Frankfurt’s Mainfest was originally a festival for fishermen and boatmen, following the ordination of the Epiphany Church (Dreikönigskirche) on July 23, 1340. The festival was created as a way for them to give thanks and honour the river for all it gave them. At the time, the festival included passion plays staged by schoolchildren, duck catching and gun saluting, as well as colourful parades by the River Main.

Interest in the Main Festival was revived with the inauguration of the new "Old Bridge" (Alte Brücke) in August 1926, and the annual public Volksfest was re-established. Although the festival was temporarily halted following the destruction caused by World War II, it was eventually reinstated and has been taking place at the Römerberg and the banks of the River Main since 1973.

Mainfest and its customs

Believe it or not, there are still some customs that have managed to carry on from 1340 to today, that form an integral part of the Main Festival. The opening ceremony of the festival, for example, still sees wine being drunk from the Justice Fountain, the oldest fountain in Frankfurt.

Another tradition is the fishermen’s joust (Fischerstechen), an old fisherman's game. Originally a competition to decide who was the better fishermen and deserved the best spot in the market, the modern-day version of this lance tournament takes place on boats on the Main. Participants are divided into teams and try to push each other out of boats with padded spears as the audience watches from the bank.

Planning your visit to Main Festival

Mainfest is open to the public from 12pm-1am on Friday and Saturday and to midnight on Sunday and Monday. The fishermen’s joust takes place on Sunday afternoon, and the event closes with a huge firework display on Monday.

If you plan on attending the Main Festival this year, then be aware that there are no car parking facilities available! As one of the busiest folk festivals in Frankfurt, we advise you to travel using public transportation or bicycle. For more details on Mainfest, please visit Frankfurt’s tourism website.

© Holger Ullmann