7.-10. July 2023
Folk meets music 2023 – friends meet friends
Festival-Guide
Folk meets music 2023 – friends meet friends
With our festival guide, our guests – visitors and participants – can easily find their way around our festival.
Stages
During the festival, folklore and music groups, bands, DJs and solo artists will present themselves on a total of eight stages. The stages are “open air” or in marquees.
“Open air” stages
Marquee on the „Marktplatz“
1.st main stage, approx. 2,000 standing places, 3 marquees with approx. 400 seats
In the courtyard of the "Vorderburg"
approx. 250 standing places and approx. 150 seats
Stadtberg
approx. 200 standing places
At the "Ringmauer"
approx. 1,000 standing places
Grounds of the senior citizens' centre
And on Monday on the grounds of the senior citizens’ centre in the “Günthergasse”.
Covered stages
TKV festival tent
2nd main stage, at the music school (“Bahnhofstraße”-“Schulstraße”), approx. 1,000 seats and approx. 250 standing places
Marquee "Auf der Wacht"
approx. 250 standing places
Keg beer tapping
After all the guest groups have usually arrived on the Wednesday and Thursday before the festival and a get-to-know-you evening has taken place in the marquee of the Schlitzerländer TVK on Thursday, “the first barrel of beer” will be symbolically tapped on Friday afternoon on the main stage on the market square in a small, musically framed ceremony.
This marks the beginning of the official marquee operation.
Opening of the Festival
On Friday evening, the time has finally come. About 2,500 to 3,000 visitors expect the folklore groups on the market square.
The opening ceremony starts with the marching in of the folklore groups at around 7.30 pm . The guest groups and, at the end, the Schlitzerländer TVK are invited on stage one after another, accompanied by music and introduced by the festival moderator.”
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After short welcoming addresses, musical contributions and the joint singing of the Schlitzer town anthem, the 1st chairman of the Heimat- und Trachtenfestverein Schlitzerland e.V. opens the festival. With the last word of his opening speech, hundreds of coloured lights suddenly illuminate the market place.
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Afterwards, the participating folklore groups thrill the audience with their performances. Each group has a performance time of about 20 minutes that evening. The performances end at around midnight, but by no means the festivities. In all the streets and tents, people celebrate with each other until the early hours of the morning.
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At two large performances each on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon after the procession (market square, TVK tent) as well as other smaller ones (stage at Vorderburger Hof, at the retirement home, at a facility for the disabled, in the city districts), visitors to the festival have further opportunities to admire the guest groups, their skills, their music and their traditional costumes.
Further marquees and beverage stands
in the immediate city area
F = Marquee – G = Beverage sale
F “Bahnhofstraße”, butcher’s shop Gies (formerly Jung)
F Musikpub, “Ringmauer” – outdoor and indoor catering
F In the entrance area of the old brewery on the “Stadtberg”
G “Bahnhofstraße”, in front of the music school
G Pizzeria “La Gondola”, Bahnhofstraße – outdoor and indoor gastronomy
G To the left and right of the “Ringmauer”, in the intersection area to the “Günthergasse”
G in “Günthergasse”, next to the Sonnen pharmacy
G in “Brauhausstraße”, at the “Braustübchen” (outdoor and indoor gastronomy) and near the “Ringmauer”
G in the area of the upper “Ringmauer, by the steps to “Schulstraße”
G Restaurant on the “Marktplatz” with outdoor terrace – (outdoor and indoor gastronomy)
G “Burgencafé” at the “Hinterburg” with outdoor courtyard
G “Schachtenburgbar”, am “Stadtberg”, with outdoor catering next to the main stage
G “Burgenschänke”, “Im Grund”, with outdoor and indoor catering facilities
G “Schlitzer Destillerie”, “Im Grund”, with salesroom
G Gasthof “Zum Auerhahn” , „Grabenberg“ – with indoor catering and outdoor terrace
Music formations
bands, music groups, marching bands or fanfare bands, orchestras
Some only come to their gigs, others stay for the entire festival.
The music bands, marching bands and fanfare bands, some of which only take part in the historical procession, belong to the “creme de la creme” of their guild – they are or were German champions, European champions or world champions.
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The Musikzug Plön von 1999 e.V., for example, is indispensable here. For decades, they have been thrilling visitors to our festival on all festival days – always present, always in a good mood, and always musically top-notch.
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All performing bands tend to come from the region, but enjoy an excellent reputation there and during their performance(s) even the enthusiastic feedback of the audience, the atmosphere of the festival.
For the enjoyment of the music of the world stars provide DJs or even the HR or Radio FFH.
Under the link listed here you will find our music flyer with all information about bands, music groups, etc.
Historical parade
Every Sunday of the festival, the Schlitzerland Heimat- u. Trachtenfestverein e.V. presents its visitors with a unique parade as part of the “International Music and Folklore Festival”, in which all invited guest groups, music and fanfare bands as well as local performers in historical costumes take part.
Nearly 30 impressive, festively decorated or historically prepared floats, all pulled by animal teams (horses, cows, oxen, donkeys, goats).
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A team of skilled craftsmen and creative artists spend weeks making the superstructures, which are then mounted on old, rural carriages.
Nearly 20 music groups, marching bands, fanfare bands as well as numerous foot and equestrian groups delight thousands of spectators every two years.
The only engine-driven vehicle in the procession is “Das Bimmellieschen”. It is a historical replica of the first railway that “connected Schlitz with the world”.
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Four moderator stands are placed along a length of about four kilometres. From there, members of the team of presenters will inform visitors about everything worth knowing about the procession and the rest of the festival.
Each parade has a different theme. Sometimes it is the fairy tales, myths and legends of the Schlitzerland, sometimes crafts, sometimes customs and village life or the history of Schlitz and Schlitzerland.
with information and the pageant sequence
Amusement park
Apart from the music and dance performances, there is another attraction at our festival.
An amusement park with modern rides attracts especially our younger visitors.
Here you can prove your courage and skill, try your luck at the lottery booths or satisfy your “little hunger” in between.
The Ferling family of showmen, whose company tradition dates back to 1948, has been an integral part of our festival programme for decades and is responsible for all the Amusement park
Apart from the music and dance performances, there is another attraction at our festival.
An amusement park with modern rides attracts especially our younger visitors.
Here you can prove your courage and skill, try your luck at the lottery booths or satisfy your “little hunger” in between.
The Ferling family of showmen, whose company tradition dates back to 1948, has been an integral part of our festival programme for decades and is responsible for all the complete equipment in this area.
Especially their “Driftzone Autoscooter” with state-of-the-art sound and light technology proves to be a visitor magnet time and again.
The smell of roasted almonds or peanuts as well as cotton candy will seduce our guests also in 2023. Sales booths with fish sandwiches, gyros, fried sausages, French fries and much more allow for a quick snack for “in between” or for “the way home”.
Festival Closing
Besides the ceremonial opening of the festival, the closing of the festival from the 25th hour !! on “Festival Monday” is one of the most emotional moments of the festival for participants and guests.
While representatives of the individual folklore groups are welcomed for the last time on the main stage on “Marktplatz”, where they line up with their national flags and with short personal statements say goodbye, their countries and cities of origin as well as special moments of the group during the festival are presented once again on a large video screen behind the stage.
This spectacle will be musically framed by contributions from music formations participating in the festival.
At the end of this event, the entire illumination goes out, the market place is plunged into complete darkness, the festival is officially over – shortly afterwards, all the lights go on again and for the “insatiable” the party continues into the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Media coverage
The media interest in our festival is very high. TV, radio, print and online media often report in detail on this unique event in advance.
You can view, listen to or read the respective articles via the links above.
- Fuldaer Verlagsanstalt mit Fuldaer Zeitung
- Hünfelder Zeitung
- Kinzigtal-Nachrichten
- Marktkorb und Schlitzer Boten
- Hoehl-Druck GmbH & Co. Hersfelder Zeitung KG
- Hit-Radio FFH
- HR3 Fernsehen
- HR4 Radio
- Lauterbacher Anzeiger
- Linus-Wittich-Verlag
- Oberhessenkurier
- Osthessen-News (Medienkontor M. Angelstein GmbH & Co.KG
- Osthessenzeitung
- Rhönspiegel
- RTL
Important information
Here, dear guests, you will find all the information that could arise for various reasons – such as safety instructions in the event of a hazardous situation, severe weather warning, changed performance venues or times, etc.
Please be sure to follow any safety instructions listed there.
