Munich’s spring festival has started here in Munich and will be running until April 27th. The city advertises it as the “kleine Schwester des Oktoberfestes” (little sister of the Oktoberfest), but anyone who has been there will say differently.

The festival itself is mostly known by the locals for the opening weekend flea market which is the biggest of the region, held just the one time a year, the first Saturday of the festival. The rest of the spring festival is rather normal for a bavarian volksfest and very small in comparison to the Oktoberfest. That being said, the comments you mostly hear from those visiting the Frühlingsfest is that it was a lot of kids (15-20 year old kids) and certainly not what they expected. From my experience I think that’s at least partly true, although all age groups are represented. I don’t believe the phrase “little sister of the Oktoberfest” is deserved, however, as it just isn’t the same atmosphere at all and isn’t even representative of similar festivals to the Oktoberfest.

If you happen to be in Munich during the spring festival, then by all means, have an evening out at the Theresienwiese (oktoberfest grounds) for the Frühlingsfest. Personally I prefer the normal Bavarian volksfests and even the actual Oktoberfest more so than the spring festival, although you take what you can get, I suppose.

For a list of volksfests around the area happening all spring/summer/fall, check this site out.

Here’s some pictures from the spring festival 2007: