A Visit to Anafest
by Fred Waltman

Ever since I met Markus Natter of Forchheim, he has been telling about a great festival held in his hometown each summer -- Annafest.

Not far from the city center of Forchheim (which is a short train ride from Bamberg) is the Kellerwald -- a hill with over 20 bierkellers. Some are open year round, some are open just in the summer and some are just open for Annafest.

So what is Annafest? It started as the festival of St. Anne (the mother of the Virgin Mary). Her feast day is July 26th and the two weeks around that date Forchheimers use that excuse to party on the Kellerwald. In addition to the 24 bierkellers, there are seven bandstands playing just about every style of music. There are also food stalls and even carnival type rides and games. Think of a cross between a county fair and Oktoberfest. With damn good beer to boot!

This year the festival runs from July 26th thru Aug 2nd. (The official website www.annafest-forchheim.de is in German). While most of the kellers open at noon, the action doesn't really get going until after 5 (and on weekends of course). Forchheim is just south of the 49th parallel (roughly the same as Seattle) so its stays light fairly late.

So if you find yourself in Germany in late July (or just need an excuse), get thee to Forchheim for the party of your life.

Enough talk. I'll leave you with some pictures from last years fest.