The Annafest is a Franconia

Franconia

Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...

n folk festival

Folk festival

A Folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music.-Canada:Alberta*Calgary Folk Music Festival*Canmore Folk Music Festival*Edmonton Folk Music Festival*Jasper Folk Festival*Wild Mountain Music FestOntario*Barriefolk...

 held yearly about 26 July (St. Anna's

Saint Anne

Saint Hanna of David's house and line, was the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ according to Christian and Islamic tradition. English Anne is derived from Greek rendering of her Hebrew name Hannah...

 day) in the Kellerwald ("Cellar Woods") – not to be confused with the Kellerwald

Kellerwald

The Kellerwald is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 675 m in the western part of northern Hesse, Germany.Its assets include Germany's largest contiguous beech woodland and it contains Hesse's only national park, the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park.- Geography :The Kellerwald lies in...

 in Hesse - in the town of Forchheim

Forchheim (Oberfranken)

Forchheim is a large town in Upper Franconia in northern Bavaria, and also the seat of the administrative district of Forchheim. Forchheim is a former royal city, and is sometimes called the “Gateway to the Franconian Switzerland”, as the region is known. Its population, as of October 2008, was...

. 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

Regnitz

The Regnitz is a river in Bavaria, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Main and is in length.The river is formed by the confluence of the rivers Rednitz and Pegnitz, which meet in the city of Fürth. From there the Regnitz runs northwards through the cities of Erlangen and Forchheim...

 to the Kellerwald, the folk festival began to develop.

The local breweries Hebendanz, Greif, Eichhorn and Neder all brew a strong Bock

Bock

Bock is a strong lager of German origin. Several substyles exist, including maibock or helles bock, a paler, more hopped version generally made for consumption at spring festivals; doppelbock, a stronger and maltier version; and eisbock, a much stronger version made by partially freezing the beer...

 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

The Annafest is also held yearly in Düren

Düren

Düren is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, capital of Düren district. It is located between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur.-Roman era:Celts inhabited Düren's area before the Romans. They called their small settlement Durum . After the Celts other Germanic tribes settled this area...

, where it is also called Annakirmes.

Brakel

Brakel, Germany

Brakel is a town in the district of Höxter in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Location :Brakel lies at the midpoint of the district of Höxter between the Eggegebirge and the Weser in the Oberwälder Land nature area in the old Saxon region of Nethegau....

 in eastern Westphalia

Westphalia

Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...

also has an Annafest with a fair. However, they call it Annentag there.

External links

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