July 24, 2026

The Annafest: A Forest of Festive Beer Cellars in Forchheim

Forchheim’s Annafest is the perfect beer fest for lovers of al fresco imbibing. A beer garden fest to end all beer garden fests, Annafest typically welcomes upwards of 500,000 thirsty beer garden aficionados over the course of its eleven days in late July and early August.

What makes this beer festival so special? The Kellerwald above Forchheim bills itself as “the largest beer garden in the world.” With well over a dozen breweries serving up their wares from cellars cut deep into the hill, I wouldn’t be inclined to challenge this claim. The cellars line up next to each other cheek by jowl, so you’ll never have far to go for your next beer in this refreshingly rustic setting. Taps tilt heavily toward Kellerbier, an unpasteurized and unfiltered beer. And that’s perfectly fine by me.

A ceramic mug of Josef Greif Kellerbier, Kellerwald beer gardens, Forchheim — *Kellerbier outside of Annafest*

You Say Beer Garden, The Franconians Say Bierkeller

No one in Munich will take it amiss if you say you’re going to a beer garden. But Franconians have a different way of referring to these sylvan oases. Back in the day, cellars were sunk into bluffs along rivers and deep into the hills both to modulate fermentation temperatures and to keep beer cool in the days before refrigeration.

Where there were no expansive woodlands, brewers strewed gravel atop these cellars and planted chestnut trees to provide extra shade. Before long, they set up tables and chairs and served beer fresh from the cellars. We’ve come to know these places as beer gardens, but Franconians go to the Bierkeller (beer cellar).

Who’s Anna?

As with other Franconian beer festivals like the Walberla Fest up the Wiesent Valley from Forchheim, the Annafest, too, began in honour of a saint. Every year on the feast of St. Anna (26 July), the pious people of Forchheim made a pilgrimage to her chapel in Unterweilersbach nearby. The pilgrims had to trek up a wooded hillside to get there. And it just so happened that this wooded hillside was seeded with cellars to ferment and lager beer.

July could get pretty warm, even a few centuries back. The pilgrims often needed a rest before pushing on, and maybe a wholesome beer to replenish their energy. Here we have the perfect Franconian storm: a saint’s feast day, thirsty pilgrims, and cool beer served from cellars cut into sandstone bluffs in the woods. A beer festival was bound to break out.

Weiss-Tauben, a Bierkeller (beer cellar) in the Kellerwald, Forchheim — *Beer cellar entrance*

Kellerbier and a Day Out in the Woods

What began in 1840 as a tranquil pilgrimage festival in the woods is now an annual spectacle renowned well beyond the borders of Franconia, especially among beer enthusiasts. Like many beer festivals, the Annafest has a split personality—like day and night, as it were. During the day, the atmosphere is like a fair with rides for the kids, snack stands, and music. The woods start teeming with younger revelers at night, with concerts fueling the energy.

Beer-wise, the Annafest is somewhere between the Bergkirchweih in Erlangen (fairly standard offerings) and the Sandkerwa in Bamberg, which draws some of Franconia’s top-shelf breweries.

Kellerbier is what sets the Annafest apart. (We’re in the Kellerwald, after all.) If you’ve been wanting to get a sense of what makes Kellerbier tick, the Annafest is where you want to be. In fact, many local breweries tap beers that have been brewed specially for the Annafest.

In any given year, between twelve and sixteen breweries serve beer from as many as twenty-four cellars dotting the woods. You’ll likely come across beers from Franconian brewing conglomerates like Kulmbacher (Mönchsof) or Tucher (Zirndorfer). Since you’ll see these beers across the region, consider saving your money for the local legends.

In addition to some of Franconia’s larger but still local breweries (Rittmayer, Löwenbräu Buttenheim), you’ll find breweries like Nikl-Bräu (served at the Fritz Schneider Keller and Kronen Keller), Brauerei Simon (Fässla Keller), Krug Bräu (Schäffbräu Keller), and Hofmann Bier (Winterbauerkeller). And, of course, Forchheim’s breweries are out in force (Greif, Neder, Hebendanz).

I mentioned Kellerbier above, a beer that generally tends to be lighter in colour. But the local breweries aren’t afraid of the darker arts, either. Greif, for example, brews a deeply hued amber Festbier for the occasion, and Neder’s Schwarze Anna pushes the spectrum toward chestnut brown, with coffee and bitter chocolate notes.

Last but not least, resist the urge to sample every last beer. Aside from a few beers like Schwarze Anna, beer is served by the mighty Maß. That’s a liter of beer for those of you keeping score at home. Your best bet is to find a nice spot, savour your beer, eat some traditional Franconian fare, and listen to the music. Then move on to the next Bierkeller. Repeat until you’ve reached your dreamy limit.

Odds and Ends

Dates and times: The festival generally starts the Friday prior to the feast day of St. Anna (26 July) and extends for eleven days. Dates for 2026: 24 July to 3 August. The beer starts flowing daily at 11:00 a.m. Things shut down for the evening at 11:30 p.m. The ceremonial Anstich (tapping) on opening night takes place in the early evening around 5:00 p.m.

Getting there: It’s a twenty-minute walk up the hill and into the woods from the Forchheim train station. Bus 261 leaves the train station every half hour. Click here for a schedule. If you’re arriving on the trainline between Nürnberg and Bamberg, there’s a new S-Bahn station, Forchheim Nord, that’s even closer to the Kellerwald. (Regional trains don’t stop here.)

Worth noting: Brauwastl’s Annafest beer has been garnering plenty of attention of late. I haven’t yet tried it, but it sounds like it’s one you’d want to seek out.

Info: You can find more info at the official Annafest site. Last but not least, here’s a handy map of the Kellerwald during Annafest. Note that you can also visit the Kellerwald outside of Annafest (mid-April through September).