Next dates
2027 dates not yet announced — typically around May. We're watching and will update this page when they land.
Quick answer
Iphöfer WeinZeit is a recurring series of roughly 30 free wine evenings in Iphofen's walled Altstadt, running Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and three public holidays from 8 May to 5 July 2026, typically 17:00–22:00. It's a decentralized, casual series — not one continuous festival — distinct from the separately organized Marktplatz Winzerfest that follows it in mid-July.
- Best for
- Franconian wine travelers who want repeat, low-commitment evenings in a genuinely walled medieval Altstadt rather than one big ticketed weekend — a natural lead-in to the separate, larger Marktplatz Winzerfest that follows in mid-July.
- Booking urgency
- Low — no tickets or reservations; just pick a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or one of the three included holidays. The Tourist Info office offers a free custom tasting-route planning service on request, and advises designating a driver if arriving by car given the multi-stop format.
May–July weekend wine evenings in Iphofen's medieval Altstadt — Franconian pours without a single mega-tent weekend.
Iphöfer WeinZeit runs roughly 30 evenings between 8 May and 5 July 2026 — every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, plus three public holidays, from 17:00 to 22:00. Visitors stroll Iphofen's walled Altstadt, sampling Silvaner, Bacchus, Müller-Thurgau, and Spätburgunder at a rotating roster of winery courtyards and public squares that changes by evening, paired with simple Brotzeit. Access is free; wine and food are bought individually per stand. It's a separate, more casual event from the Marktplatz Winzerfest that follows it in mid-July — decentralized and ticket-free, versus the Winzerfest's centralized square and its own ticketed evening cabaret show.
The full story
From early May through the first days of July, Iphofen's walled Altstadt hosts roughly 30 wine evenings under the banner Iphöfer WeinZeit — every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, plus three public holidays, typically 17:00 to 22:00. The roster of participating wineries and public squares changes evening to evening, so no two visits look quite the same; visitors sample Silvaner, Bacchus, Müller-Thurgau, and Spätburgunder alongside simple Brotzeit, paying individually per stand rather than for a ticket. The Tourist Info office will build a custom tasting route on request, and advises designating a driver for anyone arriving by car, given how naturally the format encourages moving between several stops in one evening.
WeinZeit has no founding year of its own on record — it reads less like a numbered, anniversaried festival and more like an ongoing seasonal showcase for wineries that are open for business anyway. That's worth stating plainly, because Iphofen itself has plenty of documented history to potentially (and wrongly) borrow from: the town's own roots trace to 741 AD, and it received its town charter in 1293. None of that belongs to WeinZeit specifically.
WeinZeit also isn't the same event as the Marktplatz Winzerfest, which follows immediately afterward, 10–13 July 2026. Where WeinZeit is decentralized, casual, and entirely free, the Winzerfest centers on Iphofen's Marktplatz itself, is run by the local winegrowers' cooperative rather than the tourist office, and layers in a separately ticketed evening cabaret show alongside its free general admission. The tourist office frames the two as a deliberate sequence — WeinZeit as the appetizer, the Winzerfest as the main event — which is the right way to think about visiting both. See Iphöfer WeinZeit or explore Lower Franconia.
On Tap
- Local focus
- Weekend wine evenings in Iphofen's walled Altstadt, running from May into early July.
- What to try
- Plan around a weekend or holiday date — Weinzeit runs as a series of evenings, not one continuous fest.
- Best for
- Franconian wine travelers who want repeat visits to the same walled Altstadt setting over several weeks.
- Bavaria On Tap take
- The long May-to-July window means you can build a return trip around Weinzeit rather than a single weekend.
Practical tips
The English-language details German fest pages usually skip.
- Nearest station
- Iphofen (Würzburg–Nürnberg line)
Frequently asked questions
- When is Iphöfer WeinZeit in 2026?
- 8 May to 5 July 2026 — Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, plus three public holidays (Ascension, Whit Monday, and Corpus Christi), typically 17:00–22:00.
- Is it a single continuous festival?
- No — it's a multi-week evening series of winery and plaza pours across the historic town, not one closed Festzelt weekend. The separate Marktplatz Winzerfest runs 10–13 July 2026, right after WeinZeit ends.
- Is entry free?
- Yes — access is free. Wine and food are bought individually at each participating winery or plaza stand.
- How do I get there?
- Iphofen has its own station on the Würzburg–Nürnberg line, roughly 25 minutes from Würzburg and 50 from Nürnberg. By car, park at the edge of town and walk into the Altstadt.
- How old is WeinZeit?
- No founding year is documented for this specific series — it isn't the same as Iphofen's own town history (first documented in 741 AD) or the separate Marktplatz Winzerfest, which has its own much older, numbered lineage.
- Free entry
- Scenic setting