On 14 and 15 June 2025, Munich will celebrate its 867th birthday in the Old Town under the motto “Glanz, Gloria und Genuss“ (Splendour, glory and Indulgence). The music programme on the main stage on Marienplatz, the craftsmen's village on Odeonsplatz and the Ferris wheel on Wittelsbacherplatz are already popular event highlights. In addition, numerous bands with their performances and many attractive events and activities invite you to celebrate together.Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Music / Dance / Culinary delights
Watch, enjoy, discover - there is something for every taste on the large VolXmusik stage on Marienplatz. Culinary delights are not neglected: the large beer garden on Marienplatz in front of the Rathaus (town hall) offers a cosy place to linger and feast.
True to the motto “Glamour, Gloria and Indulgence“, all kinds of “royal highnesses“ will be doing the honours in the covered lounge area on Marienplatz: wine princesses, hop, honey, rose, asparagus and apple queens from the Bavarian regions, and last but not least drag queens around Vicky Voyage, invite you to special talks and autograph sessions with their fans.
Saturday, 14 June 2025
Stage Marienplatz
10.30 a.m.: Isartaler brass band music
11 a.m.: Carillon at the town hall tower
11.15 am: Opening of the 867th city anniversary
12 noon: Carillon at the town hall tower
12.15 pm: Dance of the Moors
1.30 pm: What's up Brass Band
3 pm: Mayor Dieter Reiter and the Paul Daly Band
5 pm: Carillon at the town hall tower
5.15 pm: Heischneida - authentic folk music
7 pm: Jazoum - fresh funky sound
8.30 pm: Da Rocka & da Waitler
Hosted by: Uli Florl, Radio Arabella
End at 10 pm
Sunday, 15 Juni 2025
Stage Marienplatz
11 am: Glockenspiel at the town hall tower, beer garden opening with the Oberlinger Musikanten and the traditional Weißwurst breakfast.
12 noon: carillon at the town hall tower
12.30 pm: Accordion orchestra of the municipal singing and music school
1 p.m.: Midday prayer
3 p.m.: Wiesn table raffle
3.30 pm: Tune Circus
5.45 pm: Cagey Strings
7.30 pm: MerQury - The Queen tribute band
Hosted by: Uli Florl, Radio Arabella
End at 9 pm
Weißwurst morning pint
Sunday, 15 June from 11 a.m. to 12 noon: Especially for the city's birthday, there is a veal sausage for 1.50 euros in the large “Marienplatz beer garden“.
Music / Dance / Culinary delights
Bavaria and the Irish can look back on over 1400 years of shared history and have a lot in common. They love music, dancing, good beer and good company. St Patrick's Day was also celebrated in Munich in 2025, as it is every year. This year's ‘Irish Bavarian’ for the city's birthday offers many highlights at the Rindermarkt, including a Bavarian-Irish dance evening: ‘ScheinEilig’ plays Bavarian dances and shares the Sunday evening with the August Ceili Band, which plays Irish dances.
Another highlight is the performance by the group “Cailíní Lua“, known as the “New Queens of Irish Folkmusic“, who are coming directly from Ireland to Munich for the first time. There will also be Irish (Rince a Chroi from Munich) and Australian (The Waltzing Matildas from Munich) dance groups. With music ranging from traditional Bavarian and Irish folk music to well-known pop/rock hits in Bavarian and the best Irish rock anthems, there is something for every musical taste!
Visitors to the Rindermarkt can enjoy Bavarian and Irish culinary specialities as well as beer specialities from Munich and Ireland.
Saturday, 14 June 2025
10.30 am: Greensleeves featuring Alan Burke
1 p.m.: Rince Na Chroi
1.30 pm: Urner Musi
3 pm: Rince Na Chroi
3.30 pm: Caíliní Lua
5 pm: Rince Na Chroi
5.30 pm: SkillGang and s'geile Blech
8 pm: The Hush
End at 11pm
Sunday, 15 June 2025
11 am: Munich Old Town Musicians
1 pm: The Waltzing Matildas/ Bush Dance
1.30 pm: Orla Geary & Band
2 pm: Kilians House Band
3.30 pm: The Waltzing Matildas/ Bush Dance
4.00 pm: Calíní Lua
5.30pm: The Waltzing Matildas/ Bush Dance
6pm: Bavarian Irish dance evening with Augusta Ceili Band and ScheinEilig
End at 10 pm
Folk festival fun
Saturday, 14 June, 10.30 am to 11 pm
Sunday, 15 June, 11 pm to 9.30 pm
Against the backdrop of the Theatinerkirche, Residenz, Feldherrnhalle and Wittelsbacherplatz, you can enjoy real folk festival fun. While the grown-ups enjoy a cosy cup of coffee or Prosecco, the little ones take a spin on the children's carousel or later all together on a family carousel before trying their skills at a games booth. All around, stalls with meat, fish, vegetarian and vegan specialities and, of course, typical confectionery such as candy apples, roasted almonds, churros, chocolate fruits and ice cream beckon. You can also buy balloons, which are particularly popular with children, and much more besides.
A ride on the beautiful Ferris wheel offers breathtaking views of Wittelsbacherplatz, the many towers of the Old Town and Munich. 36 enclosed gondolas, which are also wheelchair-accessible, float at a height of 50 metres and provide an unobstructed view of the city.
Organisation and management: Veranstaltungsgesellschaft Münchner Schausteller GmbH (VMS)
Art action at Odeonsplatz
The Verein zur Förderung urbaner Kunst e.V. (Association for the Promotion of Urban Art) stands for more art in public spaces and will bring colour to Odeonsplatz with renowned artists. On the City Birthday weekend on 14 and 15 June 2025, you can see how palisades are transformed into colourful eye-catchers and canvases are created at the so-called Art Spot. The third attraction on Saturday and Sunday will be beginners' workshops for children aged between 8 and 14. The artists will be available for talks and autographs between 2.30 and 3 pm. You can look forward to works by Loomit, Ann Caz.L, Z-Rok, members of the Broke Today collective and the street art women's collective Munich Wallflowers.
This year, sound instruments by French artist Etienne Favre can be experienced along Brienner Straße - an interactive sound installation for birthday guests of all ages. The over-man-sized instruments with funny names such as broom wheels, boot flutes and elephant pianos invite visitors to touch and try them out. Recyclable everyday objects were utilised as parts of the creative new instruments. Eliciting sounds from these unusual musical instruments is great fun and great humour.
Wittelsbacherplatz becomes Munich's largest open-air dance floor, where various Munich dance schools invite you to a brilliant dance party into the evening hours. Experience the versatility of the dances. In short, simple and free workshops, Munich dance professionals pass on their dance knowledge every hour. Or you can take a short break at the numerous snack stands and enjoy the shows.
Saturday, 14 June 2025, 10.30 am to 9 am
Sunday, 15 June 2025, 10.30 am to 8.30 pm
Craftspeople and trainees from 15 trade guilds will be demonstrating their skills in show workshops: Roofers, goldsmiths and silversmiths, bricklayers, glaziers, painters and varnishers, metalworkers, electricians, textile designers, parquet and flooring technicians, stonemasons, carpenters, interior decorators and saddlers, butchers, chimney sweeps and carpenters. A visit to the craftsmen's village is particularly worthwhile for school leavers to find out about an apprenticeship. Nowhere else can you find so many different trades in one place and look over the shoulders of craftspeople at work. Of course, young people can find out about open apprenticeship or internship positions at the guild huts.
Watching is welcome - joining in is allowed!
Once again this year, visitors will be able to get hands-on at many of the stands. From planing to forging, colourful design to quill embroidery and weaving, there will once again be plenty of opportunities. Let yourself be surprised.
The official opening by Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter will take place on Saturday at 1 pm. Guests are very welcome.
Organisation and management: Claudius Wolfrum, Handwerkerdorf
Craft/shopping
Saturday, 14 June, 10.30 am to 10 pm
Sunday, 15 June, 11 am to 8.30 pm
Sendlinger Straße, Rindermarkt, Wein- und Theatinerstraße
The arts and crafts market invites you to stroll, discover and buy. Very special things can be purchased here; the entire range of goods is lovingly handmade. Whether jewellery, sculptures made of stone, metal or wood, ceramics, felted or sewn items or works made of leather, everything bears the very special signature of the people who made it. 100 artists present their artefacts and everyday objects in large parts of Sendlinger, Wein-, Theatiner- and Residenzstraße as well as on Wittelsbacherplatz. At the end of the market at Sendlinger Tor, a quiet island with deckchairs and the opportunity to have a snack or drink invites you to linger.
Organisation and management: Jens Höpke, organisation@kunsthandwerkermarkt.bayern
Fun and games/participation
Saturday, 14 June, 11 am to 6 pm
Sunday, 15 June, 11 am to 6 pm
Free admission
Water on the mills! Let's go!
Action programme for the city foundation festival 2025 for children, young people and families
The Isar has always played an important role in Munich's development, although this did not just begin in 1158 with the city's birthday.The river had an impact on both everyday life and the economic development of the city. The importance of the Isar as a waterway as well as an energy supplier and habitat is the subject of this year's stories in the activity room for children in the Alter Hof. The activities in the kitchen, monastery, wash house and workshops offer children and young people, and perhaps even their parents, a variety of opportunities to learn about and discuss historical events and living conditions in which the Isar played a significant role.
Last but not least, we have her to thank for the saying, still in use today, that one or all of us is “up to our necks in water“. Then the roaring waters of the Isar burst its banks once again, causing a bridge to collapse, flooding neighbourhoods or destroying houses on its banks...
Organisation and management: play event by Kultur & Spielraum e.V., Stadtjugendamt/Jugendkulturwerk in cooperation with MPZ-Museums Pädagogisches Zentrum and the music group EX-ING.
‘Building relationships is not only important today, it was already important in the Middle Ages!’
In the Old Court, you can make bracelets and pendants for friends using various techniques. The “WIRKSAM“ project, which is a guest at the Infopoint, also sheds light on how networking worked among princely women and what they were able to achieve. Visitors can also find out more about the history of the first Wittelsbach castle in Munich in the multimedia exhibition Münchner Kaiserburg in the Gothic vaulted hall.
museums-in-bavaria.com/infopoint
Music / Dance / Join in
Sunday, 15 June, in the Old Town Hall (ballroom)im Alten Rathaus (Festsaal)
Munich Francaise’ dance course: 2 to 3.30 pm
Dance course ‘Zwiefache tanzen’: 4 to 6.00 pm
In the ballroom of the Old Town Hall on Sunday, dance master Katharina Mayer and the Niederbayerischer Musikantenstammtisch will teach everyone how to dance the legendary “Münchner Francaise“ and the “Zwiefache“. In the “Munich Francaise“, dancing couples stand opposite each other in long rows and dance various sequences of figures inspired by courtly dance to the lively operetta music of Johann Strauss' “Fledermaus”. This is followed by a “Zwiefache tanzen“ dance class. Rhythm changes within the melody are typical of this genre and are easy to learn under guidance.
The courses are free of charge. Registration and previous knowledge are not required. Individual dancers are also very welcome.
In cooperation with the Cultural Department of the City of Munich - Dept. 3 Cultural Education, International Affairs, Urban Cultures/Folk Culture. https://www.volkskultur-muenchen.de/
Saturday, 14 June, 13 bis 19 Uhr
Sonntag, 15, Juni, 11 bis 19 Uhr
„want to stay where I have never been“
The project brings together the Munich collectives AlmResidency, JET LEG and LongegaProject, each of which hosts national and international artists. Collaborative work in a foreign country and artistic exchange across borders are at the centre of the exhibition, which is always in flux.For the city's birthday, visitors of all ages are invited to a programme full of surprises: with music, workshops, art talks and hands-on activities.
In cooperation with the Munich Adult Education Centre (MVHS), info: rathausgalerie-muenchen.de
The Münchner Gästeführer Verein e.V. offers guided tours through Munich's historic city centre on Saturday and Sunday. The meeting point for all tours is the Münchner Gästeführer Verein e.V. stand in front of the Tourist Information Centre in the New Town Hall on Marienplatz.
Duration one hour each
Saturday, 14 June 2025: 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., starting on the hour
Sunday, 15 June 2025: 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., starting on the hour
Duration one to one and a half hours
Saturday, 14 June 2025
12.30 pm: “Queens and princesses“
On this special city tour, we immerse ourselves in the fascinating stories of Bavarian queens and princesses. From Karoline von Baden, who transformed Munich into a cultural metropolis, to Marie of Prussia, who went down in history as the mountaineering queen, to Therese of Bavaria, the rebellious princess and passionate explorer. How did these women shape Bavaria? What secrets are hidden behind their fates? A tour full of surprising anecdotes and exciting twists and turns.
2.30 pm: “Nothing works without women“
“Of ‘businesswomen and nuns“, “saints and sham saints“, “market women and women's pictures“
A tour of places in Munich's historic city centre that are closely linked to the lives of remarkable women.
Sunday, 15 June 2025
12.30 pm: “Nothing works without women“
For the topic of the tour, see Saturday 2.30 pm
2.30 pm: “Queens and princesses“
Topic of the tour see Saturday 12.30 pm
Organisation and management: Münchner Gästeführerverein e.V., Renate Bartholomae, r.bartholomae@mgv-muenchen.de, www.mgv-muenchen.de
Saturday, 14 June 2025, 10.00 am to 10.00 pm
Sunday, 15 June 2025, 11.00 am to 9.00 pm
Around the Frauenkirche, around St Michael's in Neuhauser Straße, stage in Kaufingerstraße
“Grüß Gott auf dem Bennofest“ is the motto from St Michael's Church, via Neuhauserstrasse and Kaufingerstrasse, to Munich Cathedral. The Catholic Council of the Munich region and the Munich pastoral care region cordially invite all visitors to celebrate Munich's patron saint, St Benno, together. With a variety of spiritual, entertaining and interactive offers, the church can be experienced in the centre of the city: on the “playground“, directly in front of Munich Cathedral, there is a bouncy castle and offers for young and old. All children named Benno can climb the cathedral tower with their family free of charge! In Kaufingerstraße, the “marketplace“ awaits you with numerous stands and hands-on activities.
The “Kirchplatz“ around St Michael's in Neuhauser Straße offers inspiration and insights into religion and faith. This is also where the stage is located, where a varied programme of music, dance and acrobatics is presented. The main attraction on Saturday evening is OIMARA, who has taken the party world by storm with his hit “Wackelkontakt“ and is now creating a great atmosphere at the Bennofest.
The “Bennogarten“ invites you to watch, relax and enjoy a snack. There you can linger over delicious delicacies and enjoy the colourful hustle and bustle.
You can find out more about the festival, Saint Benno, the detailed programme and the event flyer at www.bennofest.de.
Organisation and management: Archdiocese of Munich and Freising
Munich's city centre is transformed into an ‘adventure mile’ during the city's birthday. Street artists will provide birthday surprises and entertain visitors, street musicians will perform and the historic Würmesia city guard will also be out and about.
Programme subject to change. In case of rain, contributions may be cancelled.