Next dates
2027 dates not yet announced — typically around July. We're watching and will update this page when they land.
Quick answer
Selber Heimat- und Wiesenfest runs Friday 10 to Monday 13 July 2026 on Festplatz Goldberg. First held in 1807, it's centered on the Schülerumzug — a schoolchildren's procession through town to the Goldberg, held twice, on Sunday and Monday around 12:45. It's not a nine-day festival, and its ~219-year age is distinct from Selb's own separate 600th-anniversary town jubilee, also marked in 2026.
- Best for
- Fichtelgebirge visitors chasing a hometown Volksfest whose Schülerumzug is the cultural centrepiece — and, in 2026 specifically, a festival marking its own genuine 219-year history alongside (but distinct from) the town's separate 600th-anniversary jubilee.
- Booking urgency
- Low for grounds access; claim Festzelt seats early on Sunday/Monday parade days.
Selb's Heimat- und Wiesenfest on Festplatz Goldberg — 10–13 July 2026, with the dual Schülerumzug on Sunday and Monday.
The Selber Heimat- und Wiesenfest fills Festplatz Goldberg for four days, Friday 10 through Monday 13 July 2026, with Festzelt music throughout. Its centerpiece is the Schülerumzug, a costumed procession of the town's schoolchildren, teachers, clergy, and brass bands from the town center to the Goldberg, held twice — Sunday and Monday, around 12:45 — and drawing well over 1,000 participants. Monday closes with a return procession, a mayoral address, and communal singing. First held in 1807, this is one of the region's older Heimat- und Wiesenfeste, part of a genre recognized on Bavaria's list of intangible cultural heritage in 2026.
The full story
For four days each July, Festplatz Goldberg in Selb fills with Festzelt music and, twice over, a procession that's the real heart of the festival: the Schülerumzug, a costumed march of the town's schoolchildren, teachers, clergy, and brass bands from the town center up to the Goldberg. The 2026 edition runs Friday 10 through Monday 13 July, with the Schülerumzug held Sunday and Monday around 12:45, drawing well over 1,000 participants each time. Monday closes with a return procession, a mayoral address, and communal singing — grounds access is free throughout, with food, drink, and rides paid on site.
The festival's roots go back further than most visitors would guess: to 10 May 1807, when more than 1,000 Selb residents processed to the Goldberg to inaugurate a teaching orchard, planted at the urging of a local deacon after the Prussian state chancellor of the time publicly praised the project. That makes 2026 roughly the 219th anniversary of the tradition — old enough that locals still mark their own calendar "before and after the Wiesenfest."
That 219-year figure is worth keeping separate from a different number also attached to Selb in 2026: the town's own 600th-anniversary jubilee, marked with its own dedicated event in June at the same Goldberg venue. The two milestones sit close together on the calendar and share a location, which makes them easy to conflate — but one is the festival's own age, and the other is the town's. The Schülerumzug tradition itself, meanwhile, belongs to a wider regional custom: a genre of children's meadow festivals across northeastern Upper Franconia that Bavaria added to its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2026, a recognition for the tradition as a whole rather than for Selb's festival alone. See Selber Heimat- und Wiesenfest or explore Upper Franconia.
History
The Selber Heimat- und Wiesenfest traces to 10 May 1807, when a procession of more than 1,000 Selb residents inaugurated a teaching orchard at the Goldberg, planted at the urging of local deacon Friedrich Wilhelm Hagen after the Prussian state chancellor publicly praised the project the year before. 2026 marks roughly its 219th anniversary — not to be confused with a separate milestone in the same year: 2026 is also the town of Selb's own 600th-anniversary jubilee, marked by its own dedicated event in June at the same Goldberg venue. The festival and the town-founding jubilee are two different numbers about two different things; locals mark their own calendar 'before and after the Wiesenfest' regardless of which year it is. The event's centerpiece, the Schülerumzug — a costumed procession of the town's schoolchildren, teachers, and clergy from the town center to the Goldberg — is part of a wider genre of children's meadow festivals across northeastern Upper Franconia added to Bavaria's list of intangible cultural heritage in 2026, a genre-level recognition rather than one specific to Selb alone.
On Tap
- Local focus
- Festzelt music on Festplatz Goldberg, framed by a dual Schülerumzug parade.
- What to try
- Catch the Schülerumzug procession through town to the Goldberg on Sunday or Monday afternoon.
- Best for
- Visitors who want to see the student parade tradition alongside the Festzelt.
- Bavaria On Tap take
- A Heimatfest built around two parade afternoons rather than a single big procession.
Frequently asked questions
- When is Selber Wiesenfest 2026?
- 10–13 July 2026 on Festplatz Goldberg.
- Was it longer than four days?
- No. The city programme covers Friday–Monday only.
- What is the Schülerumzug?
- School children's festival marches on Sunday and Monday (~12:45) from the town centre to the Goldberg — the fest's signature tradition.
- Is entry free?
- Grounds access is free; beer, food, and rides are paid on site.
- How old is the Wiesenfest, really?
- It traces to 1807 — around 219 years by 2026. That's separate from Selb's own 600th-anniversary town jubilee, also marked in 2026 with its own dedicated June event; the two are different milestones for different things.
- Free entry
- Indoor / rain-friendly