More Festivals!

I’m a little late. I apologize! Things have been really crazy with school and work. But, I am back to write about a couple more festivals I attended in the local area where I lived in Germany.

Another festival I attended was Pig Fest, know as Saubrennerkirmes, which literally translates to Pig Torch Fest. This festival is held every August in Wittlich, Germany.

The legend goes that back in Medieval times the town of Wittlich was surrounded by a wall and gate to keep out the barbarians. One night the gatekeeper went to close the gate and couldn’t find the lock. In order to keep the gate closed he used a carrot instead.

In the middle of the night a pig came along and ate the carrot, causing the gates to open and letting the barbarians inside to attack. Someone needed to be blamed for the suffering of the people of Wittlich. So, they captured every pig in town, killed them, smoked them and ate them. Ever since the village has kept it an annual tradition.

If I had to compare the festival to an event in the United States, I would compare it to a county fair in the Midwest. They had tons of food: amazing smoked pig, crepes, ice cream and, of course, beer. There were also games to play where you the opportunity to win giant stuffed animals and blow-up guitars. There was also many carnival rides!

One thing that completely blew my mind was the rides! A couple of friends and I bought tickets to ride the scrambler. We walked over to the ride to get in line and noticed there was no guardrail!

People were standing along the edges of the ride, waiting for their turn. I mean, they could have just stuck their arm out and hit someone else on the ride. And, on top of that there was drinking going on everywhere you went. I think Germans are professional drinkers or something. It was the craziest thing I think I’ve seen.

Anyways, Pig Fest was an absolute blast, and I wish I could attend it every year. Go!

Another festival I attended was the Balloon Festival. This festival was actually the same day as Pig Fest only a few miles away at the skydiving club where I jumped. I woke up that morning, went skydiving then watched the balloons launch. After that I went with my friend Bailey to Pig Fest.

The Balloon Festival was very unique and an insane sight to see. Before the balloon launch I went to the area where they had concessions and games. They had a hot air balloon tipped on its side to where you were able to walk inside of it. That was pretty neat.

A few of my skydiving friends were qualified to actually jump out of one of the balloons. Way cool experience for them and awesome to watch their footage after landing.

People traveled from all over Europe to come to this Balloon Festival. There were so many I couldn’t even count. All the balloons took off from one location except for the few that the jumpers were jumping from. Those balloons went a few miles off the site and took off from the middle of fields. They then floated over the jump zone and the jumpers jumped out.

 Festival Season! It’s a wonderful time of year in Germany!