Bad Dürkheim Wurstmarkt

The Wurstmarkt in 2028

Bad Dürkheim, a spa and wine town on the Deutsche Weinstraße, hosts the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt each September. Billed locally as the world's largest wine festival, it fills the festival grounds with wine houses, tents, carousels and visitors holding the traditional half-litre Dubbeglas. This page covers the 2028 edition.

It is still a long way off, so the information below is based on the usual pattern and not on an announcement.

Dates and their status

The 2028 festival is entered as Friday 8 September to Monday 18 September 2028 and is estimated. The organiser has not announced dates. The estimate relies on the habit that the festival starts on the Friday between 8 and 14 September, and 8 September 2028 is the earliest possible Friday in that range, so a one-week shift is conceivable.

That is why it is wise to wait for official confirmation. The town of Bad Dürkheim and the festival's own website will publish the programme and opening times once they are decided.

History and atmosphere

Fairs and a pilgrimage market in Bad Dürkheim form the background to the Wurstmarkt. Today the festival is a mix of tradition and mass entertainment, with Palatinate dialect, brass bands and shared tables where strangers quickly start talking. Many winegrowers present their wines in their own houses on the grounds.

The Dürkheimer Riesenfass, a giant barrel from the 1930s with a restaurant inside, is the best known landmark of the grounds.

What to see, do and eat

Palatinate cooking dominates the menus: Saumagen, sausages, Leberknödel, potato dishes and Pfälzer Weck. Wine, from dry Riesling to Dornfelder red, is served by the glass and in the Dubbeglas. Outside the festival, the Hardenburg ruins, the Limburg monastery ruins and the Gradierbau in the spa gardens are all within reach.

The surrounding vineyards offer hiking and cycling paths that are especially beautiful when the grapes are ripening.

If you have a free afternoon before the evening crowds arrive, a walk through the spa park and a visit to the salt works area is a calm contrast to the festival, and the paths up to the castle ruin give a wide view over the Rhine plain on clear days.

Getting there and where to stay

Take the regional train or the Rhein-Haardtbahn tram from Ludwigshafen and Mannheim, which end in Bad Dürkheim. The festival ground is a short walk from the station. Driving is slow on festival days, and parking spaces fill early.

Rooms in town are scarce during the festival, so reserve early, and consider Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Ludwigshafen or Mannheim as a base.

Public holidays and vacation days in 2028

The estimated period spans eleven days and includes seven weekdays: Friday 8 September, Monday 11 to Friday 15 September, and Monday 18 September 2028. The first weekend, 9 and 10 September, and the second, 16 and 17 September, need no vacation days. A long weekend from Friday 15 to Monday 18 September would cost two days. No public holiday in Rheinland-Pfalz falls inside the window. German Unity Day on 3 October is a Tuesday in 2028, which may make a Monday bridge attractive, but that is after the festival.

The festival suits groups, wine fans and anyone who likes a lively, social atmosphere. Check confirmed dates, plan your return trip and drink responsibly.

With an estimated start on the earliest possible Friday, 8 September, the 2028 festival could still move by a week, so avoid non-refundable rooms for now and look at the festival's own pages in summer for the confirmed opening day and programme. Compare prices in several nearby towns, because rates inside Bad Dürkheim climb on festival nights, and eat a proper meal before the first glass of wine.