In April the spring festivals in Munich begin with lots of tradition and beer. At the first flea markets there is haggling and gossiping – and those who need thrills come to the Olympiapark.
It could hardly be more Munich-like: On Mariahilfplatz (square) with its magnificent church and the magnificent view over the city, people meet in traditional costume or in the normal way to the Auer Dult (festival) – or more precisely to the Maidult, which begins in April (just as the Oktoberfest starts in September ...). It is called that because it starts on the Saturday before May 1st. From 29 April to 7 Mai 2023, around 100,000 guests will celebrate spring – everyone to their liking: children love the nostalgic chain carousels, handmade doll's clothes, small furniture for their playhouses at home and the cotton candy. Adults browse through pottery, knitted jackets or practical household goods – and of course don't forget the beer and steamed noodles. Dult is cult!
Auer Dult, 29 April to 7 May 2023, Mariahilfplatz
Also on the Theresienwiese, where the Oktoberfest takes place every autumn, the spring festival invites to a cosy get-together. From 21 April to 7 Mai on the "Frühlingswiesn" you can find everything from small shooting galleries to ship swings and huge rides like the "XXL Racer". In the beer tents and beer gardens, the smell of chicken and roasted almonds is accompanied by brass bands and beer.
Frühlingsfest, 21 April to 7 May 2023, Theresienwiese
A highlight of Munich's young theatre scene is the annual Radikal jung festival at the Volkstheater. For the 16th time young directors present their productions here. Young directors show their productions here. The aim of the festival is to promote the new generation of theatre-makers, to show their thematic and aesthetic preferences and to present them to both a professional audience and the general public.
Radikal jung, 28 April to 6 May 2023, Volkstheater
Munich residents and visitors alike also love the legendary flea market on the Theresienwiese – which is why it is worth getting up early. Very early indeed! If you want to make bargains in peace and quiet, then you have a good chance. In the morning at the latest, it gets really crowded here between the almost endless beer and wallpaper tables full of half-measures. The good thing about it: The Bavarian Red Cross flea market supports social projects.
Flea market, 22 April 2023, Theresienwiese
This year 73 artists of the "Münchener Künstlergenossenschaft königlich privilegiert 1868 (royal privileged 1868)" present 128 exhibits from the fields of painting, sculpture and graphic art. For over 150 years, the Munich artists' cooperative has offered a space to the art position of realism. For many well-known artists, painters, sculptors and architects it has been a home and a place of exchange as well as an intermediary to collectors and art lovers. Today, over 100 members represent the pictorial themes of portraits, nudes, still lifes, landscapes, animal motifs and surrealism.
Annual exhibition of the Munich Artists' Cooperative, April 1 to 16, 2023, Münchner Künstlerhaus at Lenbachplatz 8
This show features Ludwig actor Matthias Stockinger and Michael Jackson tribute artist Patrick Granado on stage at the Prinzregententheater. The live band, the musical stars Zodwa Selele as Janet Jackson and Maria Meßner as Empress Elisabeth, pop diva Kirstin Hesse, acrobats and a dance ensemble present Michael Jackson's greatest hits and the melodies of the musical "Ludwig", combined in an impressive crossover show.
Ludwig meets Michael Jackson, 15 April 2023, Prinzregententheater
At the "BMW Open Tennis" tournament from 15. to 23.4.23, the MTTC Iphitos club on Aumeisterweg will be showing who will be cheering for the winner's cup at the end of many exciting matches.
BMW Open Tennis, 15 to 23 April 2023, Aumeisterweg 10
One of the musical highlights of the year is the rock concert "Rock meets Classic 2023" in the Olympiahalle (Olympic Hall). On 16 April 2023, a symphony orchestra and a band will play the greatest hits of rock history.
Rock meets Classic, 16 April 2023, Olympiahalle
The Deutsche Meisterschule für Mode, Designschule München, is pleased to present works by students that were created with the creative and stylistic support of Tom Rebl. Rebl made a name for himself as an international fashion designer during his 14 years in Milan. After returning to Munich, he dedicated himself to sustainable fashion ideas under the impact of the pandemic.
You can now get an idea of what sustainability looks like in the fashion business at the Tom Rebl Creative Lab in Munich's City Hall. For the exhibition, a batch of discarded and cast-off wedding dresses were reinterpreted in an artisanal recycling process to give them back fashion relevance and wearability. The results can be admired in the exhibition, as well as a photo series in which the models were photographed with the collection on the vacant floors of the abandoned Kaufhof am Stachus.
Exhibition UpBride, 18 to 27 April 2023, TOM REBL Creative Lab in Munich's Neues Rathaus on Dienerstraße.
The exhibition celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Walt Disney Company and immerses fans in the stories that have captivated people worldwide since 1923. On display are more than 250 original artworks and artefacts, costumes and props, and other memorabilia. Ten galleries with interactive installations and background information take visitors on a journey through 100 years of the Walt Disney Company, from classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to the latest animated film, Strange World.
Disney100: The Exhibition, 18 April to 3 September 2023, Kleine Olympiahalle
There is plenty of young art to see at the Stroke Art Fair on the Praterinsel. The first German art fair for new contemporary art has been taking place in Munich since 2009. Here you can not only look at street art and urban art, but also buy it. The most exciting new discoveries of the scene are presented at the festival. A food market, concerts, live paintings and parties are further good reasons to visit the festival.
Stroke Art Fair, 29 April to 1 May 2023, Praterinsel
As part of the nationwide project "Denk Mal Am Ort", on Saturday, 29 April, and Sunday, 30 April 2023, committed Munich residents will commemorate people who lived or worked there and were disenfranchised, dispossessed and persecuted by the National Socialists because of their political convictions, their ancestry, their faith, their sexual orientation or their values through six events at five locations in Munich.
Denk Mal Am Ort, 29 and 30 April 2023, five different places
In the exhibition "Breaking the Surface", the Danish ensemble "Between Music" invites the audience to a sensual journey into the subconscious. The seven interactive installations combine the sounds of composer Laila Skovmand recorded under water with a visual aesthetic reminiscent of Renaissance paintings. Visitors can walk through water mist, lie on their backs and watch a 3-D video installation or walk on a narrow gravel walkway over a pool of water and discover a sound and video installation at the bottom of a fountain.
Breaking the Surface, 26 March to 23 April 2023, blackBox Werksviertel Atelierstraße 18
The guided tour on the theme of "Who lived here - and how" is suitable for families and children aged 7 to 12. The Residenz is explored in an age-appropriate way from the Grottenhof to the Rich Rooms.
From the Grotto Courtyard to the Rich Rooms, 1 April 2023, Residenz
Kuchentratsch is a social bakery from Munich, where around 50 grandmas and grandpas bake cakes together. For the Easter holidays, they have come up with a nice holiday programme for children in their café in the Westend: Decorating muffins with grandma. Just drop by, no reservation is necessary. Participation fee per child: 6 euros.
Kuchentratsch: Decorating muffins with grandma, Tuesday 11 April and Wednesday 5 and 12 April, 9 am to 12 pm, Theresienhöhe 30
Forever ... Dracula - The Only True Story is a family-friendly musical for everyone from 8 to 88 years of age that will make you laugh out loud. In this adaptation of the famous literary classic, composer Peter Stangel integrates well-known personnel from the horror scene into the story of the professor who sets out to finish off Dracula. In addition to Doctor Frankenstein, Dracula's "ex-girlfriend" Vampirella and the factotum Igor also mix up the action. Musically, the production offers an all-round performance from waltz to blues, rock and pop, tango and Latin. There will also be boogie-woogie, a rap and a baroque minuet.
Forever ... Dracula - The Only True Story, 2 April 2023, Alte Kongresshalle
"How the Bavarian electors and kings lived" - this is the motto of the guided tour for families and children from 6 to 10 years. Dr Susanne Franke will give an age-appropriate tour of the summer residence at Nymphenburg Palace.
Nymphenburg Palace - a summer dream, 16 April 2023, Nymphenburg Palace
The Olympiapark (Olympic Park) offers all kinds of action and excitement for the more adventurous. In the "Spartan Munich" obstacle course, amateur athletes will rise above themselves when they have to overcome walls and barbed wires, wade through mud or swim in lakes and climb ropes. At the finish line, everyone is a hero!
Spartan Munich 2023, 14 April 2023, Olympiapark
The SBS-Südbayernserie is an annual event in which the motocross clubs of southern Bavaria organise races in a total of 8 classes. It will take place in 2022 at MSC Freisinger Bär, the off-road park at Munich Airport. On the fringes of the sporting action, spectators will be well catered for with a legendary curry sausage and coffee and cake.
Free admission!
Motocross at the airport, date to be announced, Nordallee 44, 85356 Munich
Blessing and basking in the sun – the two go hand-in-hand at Heiliger Berg (Holy Mountain). The terrace at Kloster Andechs (Andechs Abbey) boasts an incredible view over the Munich area. The church next door is an important place of Catholic pilgrimage and is also the burial place of several Bavarian dukes. People having been making the pilgrimage to Heiliger Berg in Andechs since the 12th century, making it the oldest pilgrimage in Bavaria. The abbey itself has been around since 1455, when the Benedictine monks moved into the former castle. It is still home to six monks today. Nowadays, pilgrims are also less likely to travel to Heiliger Berg looking for salvation but rather the abbey’s excellent food and, above all, beer. Several paths lead up to Heiliger Berg, the two most popular of which start at the train station in nearby Herrsching. One winds its way up from the bottom through the forest while the other follows a ridge to the abbey. The higher path is slightly shorter while the lower is better for pushchairs and bikes. You should plan around one and a half hours for the route.
Chefs love this plant for its taste: reminiscent of garlic, hot yet also somehow mild and fresh. Wild garlic is a true super herb. Its leaves are ideal for salads while its stalks can be chopped down and used for flavouring. Experts in natural healing prescribe wild garlic for gastrointestinal problems. Eating wild garlic is also said to protect against heart attacks and strokes. In the Middle Ages, the plant was therefore regarded as a particularly beneficial medicinal plant that could ward off harm. If you’re lucky, you may find fresh wild garlic in the local supermarket. True wild garlic fans, on the other hand, go hunting for the plant themselves in April. Wild garlic thrives in moist, shady spots in lowland forests and deciduous woods. You’ve got a good chance of finding some in the Englischer Garten, the Isar flood plains or Pasinger Stadtpark on the banks of the Würm River. You may also find it in the Ostfriedhof and Waldfriedhof cemeteries. During your hunt, it’s always best to follow your nose. If you can smell garlic then you’re on track for finding wild garlic.
A detailed calendar of events can be found here.
Curious? On this tour over the Auer Dult you will discover the special stalls and rides with an official guide from München Tourismus.
