There are numerous festival locales whose historic castles, palaces and churches provide a charming backdrop for productions of mainly classical works: Bad Hersfeld, Ludwigsburg, Schwabisch Hall, Jagst-hausen, the Haidplatz in Regensburg, the Wartburg near Eisenach and many more. Other extremely popular festivals include the Kissingen Summer, the Calderon Festival in Bamberg and the “Hornberger Schiessen”.
The oldest festival is the Oberammergau Passion Play in Upper Bavaria, which is staged every ten years in fulfillment of a pledge to God by the people of the village for delivering them from the plague in 1 634.
Germany’s festival organizers particularly like their events to have an international flair. In addition to showcasing the works of Richard Wagner, for example, Bayreuth has also been staging the International Youth Festival since 1950. And Berlin has its “Horizonte”, a festival of world cultures.