Twitter
Facebook
Neustadt, along the German Wine Street, will celebrate the highlight of the German wine fest season with its annual wine harvest fest today through Oct. 12.
The German Wine Harvest Fest is considered the vintners’ Thanksgiving. For more than 50 years, regional vintners celebrate the event after they finish their work in the vineyards and wine cellars. At the same time, they welcome the new season with new wines.
The wine harvest fest in Neustadt is well-known for the little reconstructed wine village set up across from the train station. It is made of little framework houses called “Haiselscher,” (Palatinate dialect meaning little houses) and booths, where local wines and food specialties are sold.
A typical season specialty offered is “Zwiebelkuchen,” or onion cake. It is similar to Quiche Lorraine and customarily it is served with “Federweisser,” the first new wine for that year. Federweisser has a cloudy color and tastes more like grape juice than wine, containing less alcohol. It is still fermenting and after a few weeks loses its sweetness. Other typical Palatinate dishes are Leberknödel and Saumagen.
Next to the Haiselscher there is a stage where live music performances will take place.
Stores in Neustadt will open from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
A carnival with rides and a festival tent is set up near the wine village. Wednesday will be family day with reduced prices for rides.
Neustadt’s Hetzelplatz will turn into a giant wine probe location at 7 p.m. Thursday. The “German Wine and Champagne Meeting Point,” made of little pavilions, lures visitors who want to sample wines from the nine wine villages belonging to Neustadt and from all other wine-growing regions in Germany. For the first year, Neustadt’s wine sister region Roero located in Piemont, Italy, will serve their red wines.
More than 100,000 guests are expected for the 100th anniversary of the vintners’ parade with more than 100 decorated floats, bands, walking groups, costume groups and the Palatinate and German wine queens at 2 p.m. Oct. 11. The fest will close out with a fireworks display at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 12.
The German railroad company, Deutsche Bahn, offers trains going from Kaiserslautern to Neustadt every half hour throughout the day and every hour at night. The Deutsche Bahn recommends the Ticket 24 for individuals and Ticket 24+ for groups of two to five people. Tickets are available at the ticket machines.
For more information about the event, visit www.neustadt.pfalz.com.
