Festivals and festivities

Traditions meet new trends

All year round, there are mega-events in Hannover that delight huge numbers of visitors from near and far. Traditional funfairs with numerous highlights guarantee a fantastic atmosphere. Musical events ranging from an exceptional concert experience to a weekend festival attract crowds of fans.

Phenomenal party calendar

Take a leisurely stroll in the shade of ancient trees, admire the sparkling water, succumb to culinary temptations and enjoy inspirational concerts – you can do all that and more at the annual Maschsee Lake Festival! Mediterranean lifestyle, fun and games for all the family and the magnificent lakeside promenades in the immediate vicinity of the city are the key to the success of this event, which is one of the largest festivals in the north of Germany. A long-standing tradition that never fails to come up with new surprises is Hannover’s Marksmen’s Festival, which dates back almost 500 years. For ten whole days, everything revolves around carousels and celebrations for the young and young-at-heart. The marksmen’s parade through the city centre on the Sunday marks the highlight of this event. Some 100,000 visitors converge on Hannover when more than 1,500 musicians transform the city into a huge open-air stage during the “Fête de la Musique”. Jazz fans congregate for the
“enercity swinging hannover”, which is held in front of the New Town Hall on Ascension Day every year. The “MASALA World Beat Festival” and the “A cappella week” provide plenty of opportunity for discovering new musical talent, while major rock and pop concerts are staged in the ZAG-Arena, EXPO Plaza and HDI Arena.

Highlights in the region

A fireworks display over the water, accompanied by classical music and illuminated boats: the “Lake Steinhude Weekend Festival” is celebrated on and around the largest lake in Lower Saxony and features live music, arts and crafts and a wide range of attractions for visitors of all ages. Two of the bestknown cultural events in the region are the international music festival “MuSe” in Seelze and “Mimuse” in Langenhagen, which is the most important festival of cabaret and small-scale performance in the north of Germany. The concerts in the “Summer of Culture” series feature international music stars and promising newcomers in unusual settings – in monasteries and churches, gardens, palaces and barns – and every year, they are joined by even more new and surprising venues.