6 Best Performing Arts in The Pfalz and Rhine Terrace, Germany

Beer and pretzels are central to this annual celebration held in Speyer over the second weekend in July. Other highlights include carnival rides and games, fireworks, and a grand parade.

For two long weekends in August, the wine town of Deidesheim fills up with stalls where visitors can sample local wines and hearty cuisine. Deidesheim's wineries also stay open late, offering live entertainment most nights during the festival.

In Neustadt, the German Wine Queen is crowned during this 10-day wine festival in late September–early October. The festival includes wine tastings, the largest wine festival parade in Germany, and a huge fireworks display on the final night.

The Pfalz is home to the world's largest wine festival, held in Bad Dürkheim in mid-September in front of the world's largest wine barrel. Some 400,000 pounds of sausage are consumed during eight days of merrymaking.

In addition to carnival rides, a craft market, fireworks, and plenty of food and drink, live performances from local and international bands, as well as theater and cabaret performances, take place on six stages in the city center in late June. Since the festival is at least nominally in honor of Johannes Gutenberg, printers' apprentices are dunked in water in front of the Gutenberg Museum as part of a "printers' baptism" ceremony.

Carnival rides, traditional folk music and dance, jousting on the Rhine, and fireworks create a jovial atmosphere at this annual festival, starting in late August, which honors the city's fishermen.