Stone Lifting at Garmischer Festwoche

Garmischer Festwoche is a highly anticipated week of traditional summer celebration for Garmisch residents and anyone looking to take part in an exciting cultural activity while visiting the area. To give a bit of context, many towns in Germany have a summer festival referred to as “Volksfest” meaning “people’s festival.”  Simply put, the Volksfest combines a beer festival and traveling carnival funfair. Neighboring towns have set weeks to conduct their Volksfests ideally, so that the dates do not overlap. The Garmischer Fest takes place annually during the last week of July and it is a blast.

The week traditionally kicks off on Saturday with a gun salute, firecracker shooting, and a parade through town, culminating at the official festival grounds. The Garmischer Fest tent (Bierzelt) is located at Wittelsbach Park by the Loisach Bridge. It is approximately 5 minutes from the Garmisch city center and main pedestrian zone. Instead of looking up directions, it may be a fun exercise to navigate based on sound. If you wait outside during an evening of fest week, you will undoubtedly hear firecracker noises, hollering, and music which will direct you to the celebration. As you draw near, the festival grounds are quickly identified by vendors, rides, and a large beer tent. Admission to the event is free (except for an entrance fee on Tuesday’s concert party night).

Throughout the week, there are different themed nights showcasing traditional folk events. Monday evening is one of the best in my opinion due to the unique stone lifting competition. At 8pm, men (and one or two women) come prepared to compete for the “Alpenpokal.” The Alpenpokal (Alpine Cup) trophy will be awarded to the person who is able to lift a giant stone to the highest measurement. It sounds a little peculiar, sure, but it’s a GIANT stone. 509 pounds to be exact, so it truly is more of a strongman competition. The beer and cheer is flowing in the fest tent during the competition, but don’t let that fool you. The activity itself is dangerous and not to be taken lightly. Competitors are broken up into four weight classes. The stone weight remains the same for each class to lift.

The emcee for the event is quite entertaining, always keeping the crowd’s energy high between stone lifts. He introduces the competitors, often states where they are from or what they do for a living, and encourages cheering to inspire lifting strength.

Some competitors can’t get the stone off the ground a single centimeter. On the other end of the spectrum, the winners this year lifted the stone a full meter high. And of course, we saw everything in between. It is really a source of pride to even achieve a few centimeters lift (and have good enough form not to injure yourself in the process!) The oldest competitor I heard announced this year was 67 years young 😊 Everyone who gets out there is fighting for the Alpine Cup trophy, but respect is earned simply for attempting the event.

Monday’s stone lifting competition is a favorite of Garmischer Festwoche, so expect big crowds. It is a good idea to reserve a table online in advance, but not absolutely necessary. The full schedule of events and details on how to make reservations can be found on the official site here: https://www.vtv-garmisch.de/

In addition to stone lifting, there are plenty of other fun things to experience at Garmischer Fest. Bavarian musical entertainment and dancing are staples throughout the week. The Garmisch Band plays traditional music and the Schuhplattler dancing club will intermittently perform. Small carnival games, flower shooting, and rides are found around the fest tent. Food can be ordered from waiters and waitresses from your table. There are a variety of dishes to choose from including roasted chicken with potato salad, Bratwurst with sauerkraut, and Leberkäse with pretzel. You cant go wrong!

I personally just like to partake in the good cheer and people watch! The “Trachten” (traditional German garments, commonly Dirndls for women and Lederhosen for men) worn to these fests are quite beautiful and unique. I didn’t realize before moving to Bavaria that each town has their own signature variation of Trachten. A great example of these variations can be observed during Volksfest. Band members and dancing performers model the most classic matching outfits for the folk club and region. In Garmisch, the women dress in red dirndls with light blue satin aprons/shawls. They also wear black accessories. The signature Garmisch Lederhosen are made of dark (almost black) leather with bold green stitching. The men’s Hosenträger (suspender straps) are hand embroidered. Green and white checkered calf warmers are also a must for any true Garmischer. We have seen unique variations to traditional German dress by attending a handful of different town festivals over the past year. For example, Partenkirchen’s dress is very similar to Garmisch, but the men wear grey and white checkered calf warmers. In Lindau, the leather colors for lederhosen are usually lighter and wooden shoes are commonly paired with the outfit. Needless to say, the wide range of personal, modern, and classic festive wear options makes for fun people watching.

Garmischer Fest week will conclude this year on Sunday, August 4 with a final parade procession through town. The Garmisch Band and Schuhplattler dancers will again put on grand performances for all spectators to enjoy. It has been a treat to partake in our local festival week activities, a rich tradition which has been running strong for over 70 years. If you happen to be out of town for Garmischer Fest, don’t stress too much because the city takes only a one-week pause before kicking off the Partenkirchner Fest a few streets away during the second week of August. I anticipate Partenkirchner Fest to be similar in many ways to Garmischer Fest, but look forward to experiencing it for the first time this year. I hear that the tug-of-war event and traditional German whip dancing are unique highlights of the Partenkirchner Fest (instead of stone lifting and finger wrestling). We will be sure to report back with stories and video clips from our next summer fest adventure! Prost!