Next dates
2027 dates not yet announced — typically around June. We're watching and will update this page when they land.
Quick answer
The Aitrachtaler Volksfest in Mengkofen takes place 12–16 June 2026 on the Alleewiese. Built around the parish's Herz-Jesu-Fest procession, it opens Friday with a concert and beer tapping, holds a flea market Saturday, centers on the Sunday procession and church service, and closes with a youth day Tuesday.
Five-day Aitrach Valley Volksfest on Mengkofen's Alleewiese with Herz-Jesu procession, Trödlermarkt, and Festzelt, 12–16 June 2026.
Mengkofen's Aitrachtaler Volksfest blends Lower Bavarian Volksfest life with the Herz-Jesu-Fest procession on Sunday, running 12–16 June 2026 on the Alleewiese at Von-Haniel-Allee 12. The devotional procession itself traces back to 1735, far older than the modern beer-tent festival built around it.
The full story
The Aitrachtaler Volksfest turns Mengkofen's Alleewiese into a five-day community festival each June, running Friday to Tuesday and built around the parish's Herz-Jesu-Fest (Feast of the Sacred Heart). It opens Friday evening with a band concert and a ceremonial beer tapping, moves into a Saturday flea market for a lower-key daytime crowd, and reaches its centerpiece on Sunday with a procession from the Weichshofen district into the festival tent, followed by a church service. Monday shifts the mood toward the town's seniors and its local businesses and associations, and Tuesday closes the run with a youth-focused finale. The festival runs annually, with editions in 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027, organized by the Gemeinde Mengkofen, with the festival tent run by a resident family catering concession and, since 2024, a separate wine-tavern concession operating alongside it.
What sets this fest apart from a generic Lower Bavarian Volksfest is how directly its devotional and secular halves are fused: the procession doesn't just precede the festival, it walks straight into the beer tent. That devotion has deep roots — Mengkofen's Herz-Jesu tradition dates back to 1735, maintained for centuries by a local Sacred Heart devotional brotherhood, long before the modern beer-tent festival grew up around it. The Volksfest itself is considerably younger. Visitors planning a single day around the fest should aim for Sunday, when the procession and church service are on the program; those visiting in an odd-numbered year can also catch a smaller garden market in the town's castle garden, held alongside the main festival only every other year. See the Aitrachtaler Volksfest Mengkofen page or explore Lower Bavaria.
History
The Aitrachtaler Volksfest grew up around Mengkofen's Herz-Jesu-Fest (Feast of the Sacred Heart), a parish devotional tradition dating to 1735 — nearly two and a half centuries before the secular Volksfest wrapped around it. The Volksfest itself is younger; its own founding year is unstated, though it has run annually for decades, with editions in 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027. A separate garden market in the town's castle garden, organized by the local fruit-and-garden association, runs alongside the festival in odd-numbered years only.
On Tap
- Local focus
- Mengkofen's Aitrachtaler Volksfest opens with a concert and beer tapping on the Alleewiese, built around the parish's centuries-old Herz-Jesu-Fest procession.
- What to try
- Catch the opening parade and Anstich, then return Saturday for the flea market.
- Best for
- Lower Bavaria visitors who want a fest with real local roots rather than a generic fairground stop.
- Bavaria On Tap take
- A Sunday procession rooted in a centuries-old parish devotion, followed by a seniors'/associations' Monday and a youth day on the closing Tuesday, gives this five-day fest a real community arc.
Frequently asked questions
- When is Aitrachtaler Volksfest 2026?
- 12–16 June 2026.
- Where is the fairground?
- Alleewiese, Von-Haniel-Allee 12, 84152 Mengkofen.
- What happens on Sunday?
- A procession from the Weichshofen district into the festival tent, followed by a church service — the festival's cultural centerpiece.
- How long has this fest existed?
- The parish's Herz-Jesu devotional tradition dates to 1735; the secular Volksfest built around it is much younger, though its exact founding year is unstated.
- Indoor / rain-friendly