The Dachau folk festival is known far beyond the city limits. Located in the middle of the town, at the foot of the Altstadtberg, the traditional festival attracts hundreds of thousands of guests to the Festwiese every year. A successful interplay of marquees, fairground rides, fairground stalls and tempting delicacies creates a unique atmosphere.
It is not only on Family Day that the Dachau Folk Festival becomes an experience for the whole family, thanks to the wide range of offers from the showmen and showwomen and the numerous rides for young and old. Sports enthusiasts can enjoy the thrill of the Dachau Mountain Criterium during the festival period. The international bicycle race around the historic old town takes place every year on August 15, the feast day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
Another highlight of the festival every year is the colorful fireworks display above Dachau Castle, which has attracted thousands of visitors from Munich, Freising and Augsburg for years.
Thanks to the central location of the Volksfestplatz in the middle of the town of Dachau, at the foot of the picturesque old town skyline, visiting the Dachau Volksfest by public transport is particularly convenient and recommended.
The Dachau Folk Festival takes place annually in August, including the Assumption Day holiday, from Saturday to the Monday after next. It lasts ten days.
The 2026 folk festival program will be published in due course.
The children's parade takes place every two years. The next children's parade is on August 7, 2027.
The 2026 hosts will be announced in due course.
The Dachau Volksfest can be reached easily and safely by public transport.
You can reach the fairground in approx. 10-15 minutes on foot from Dachau station, also from „Dachau Stadt“ station.
The Dachau folk festival is also easy to reach by bike.
Directly on Ludwig-Thoma-Straße, in Dr.-Engert-Straße and in Schleißheimer Straße you will find bicycle stands for approx. 1000 bicycles.
There are also approx. 50 guarded bicycle parking spaces in Dr.-Engert-Straße (subject to charge).
The parking facilities for bicycles are marked for your convenience on the overview map of the Dachau Volksfest.
The Ludwig-Thoma-Wiese is located below Dachau's old town on Ludwig-Thoma-Straße and Martin-Huber-Straße.
Parking is available at the following locations:
Like many Bavarian folk festivals, the one in Dachau looks back on a centuries-old tradition and developed into its current form in the 19th century.
The Dachau folk festival has its origins in the horse races, which were first held in 1652 and already had the character of a folk festival. In 1887, the decision was made to combine the horse races with a supra-regional animal exhibition, which also took place regularly, to form an „Agricultural and Commercial Exhibition in Dachau“ and to use this as the occasion for a two-day folk festival. The first Dachau folk festival took place. Attractions included shooting, gymnastics demonstrations, beer tapping and a band.
Until the First World War, three more folk festivals followed every seven years (1894, 1901, 1908), each in the first half of September, i.e. before the start of the Munich Oktoberfest. The original location of these events was the so-called Zieglerwiese on Münchner Straße, where Max-Mannheimer-Platz and Moorbadpark are located today.
The Dachau Port of Fortune was set up for the first time back in 1894. This raffled off goods for the benefit of the Dachau poor relief fund, today's Bürgerspitalstiftung. There were 18,000 tickets at 20 pfennigs each, and every tenth ticket was worth between 20 pfennigs and 30 marks. At the time, tickets were sold by members of the magistrate, the members of the municipal council and the poor wardens. From then on, the lucky draw was a fixture at every subsequent Dachau folk festival. In 2022, the Dachau district association of the Bavarian Red Cross took over the lucky draw, which it had already been running on the last two days of the folk festival.
In 1920, the folk festival was moved from the Zieglerwiese to its current location, the Ludwig-Thoma-Wiese, although its dates initially alternated between mid-August and early September. During the Weimar period, the folk festival was held eight times at irregular intervals. From 1933 to 1939, there were six more folk festivals, whereby the National Socialists integrated them into both the town elevation celebrations in 1934 and the town hall inauguration in 1935.
A site plan from 1925 in the Dachau town archives shows that the Glückshafen was already located where it is still to be found today.
Since 1946, the Dachau Folk Festival has been held every year in August, including the Feast of the Assumption. In 2029, due to the irregular dates in earlier times and two cancellations in the Corona years, the Dachau Volksfest will therefore be held for the second time. 100th time organized.
The fair is open daily from 12.00 noon to midnight. Showmen and innkeepers are permitted to open at 10.00 am.
For your safety and to ensure that everything runs smoothly, we would like to inform you about the following measures:
NEW LOCATION!
From 2025, the Volksfest lost and found office will be located in the VHS building (https://maps.app.goo.gl/BPpkpEidAetyoS9V6) - the police, volunteer fire department and BRK are also housed here. The lost and found office is open daily between 5 and 6 pm.
Anyone who finds something at the Volksfest is asked to hand it in at the Volksfest lost and found office, to the staff of the tents, stands and rides or to the fire department, police and BRK - so that the items can find their way back to their owners as quickly as possible.
After the end of the Volksfest, all found objects are taken to the municipal lost and found office (Pfarrstr. 2).
The city asks for your understanding that, in accordance with the Dachau Volksfest regulations, dogs are not allowed on the festival grounds.
