Events & Festivals in Munich

The Munich Philharmonic rings in the year with Strauss waltzes that sparkle under the neo-baroque ceiling of the Gasteig. Velvet seats, bubbling Sekt glasses, and the conductor's white tie gleam beneath golden chandeliers.

Frozen earth crunches under 5,000 trainers as runners circle the Englischer Garten in sub-zero air thick with pine smoke from turn-of-the-year grills. Costumes, cowbells, and hot-mulled runners' Glühmost line the route.

Geodesic tents glow orange against Theresienwiese's night frost. You'll inhale cedar smoke from fire bowls, taste vegan kebabs, and sway to Afro-beat while snowflakes settle on your eyelashes.

Monks once brewed this malty 'liquid bread' for Lent. Today, Paulaner's Nockherberg hall reverberates with brass bands and clinking stoneware mugs of 7.5% Salvator under vaulted ceilings painted with cherubs.

Classical and crossover acts bloom alongside the first lilacs in the Gasteig courtyards. Outdoor chamber music drifts through crisp spring air while cafés serve white-asparagus soup perfumed with nutmeg.

Though Zurich-born, Munich's Swiss expats parade in silk waistcoats from St.-Anna-Platz to the Chinese Tower. Watch the Boogg snowman effigy hiss and pop amid drifts of roasted chestnut steam.

At dawn, 40-metre spruce trunks wrapped in blue-white crepe paper sway into Marienplatz. Brass oompah and cracking whips echo off neo-Gothic stone while children dance around the newly raised Maypole.

25 km of pedal-powered nostalgia: thousands in vintage lederhosen cycle from Munich through forest perfume to a mountain meadow breakfast of radish, pretzels and weisswurst. Cowbells clank like loose change.

International premieres flicker across the Gloria's art-deco screen until midnight. Smell fresh popcorn mingling with night-blooming linden as directors answer questions under the cinema's starry ceiling.

Rainbow confetti rains on Sonnenstrasse as techno-floats crawl toward Königsplatz. Rainbow-painted skin glistens with sweat. Whistles squeak above basslines thick enough to ripple beer in plastic cups.

A giant LED screen broadcasts full Bavarian State Opera performances to Max-Joseph-Platz. You'll sit on warm cobblestones, sip chilled Gemischter Satz from plastic goblets, and hear Puccini arias float into the summer sky.

Fire-n-bass fireworks crackle above the Isar while open-air orchestras play waltzes on floating platforms. Reflections of crimson flares shimmer on wet cobblestones along the riverbank.

Six million litres of Märzen slosh inside 14 floral-painted tents. Roasted-honey smell of half-chickens drifts above oompah beats while dirndls swirl under canvas ceilings stained amber by late-afternoon sunbeams.

Children parade with paper lanterns that glow like orange fireflies through Neuhausen's streets. Bratwurst smoke curls around stalls selling almond-studded Martinshörnchen pastries shaped like horseshoes.

Organic glühwein scented with star anise steams inside reused mugs while fire-artists twirl beside Mongolian yurts. Fairy-light canopies flicker against frosted pine branches above Theresienwiese.

Pine boughs and toasted-almond aroma drift across Marienplatz's wooden stalls. Choir voices echo off Gothic facades while you cradle a steaming mug of apricot schnitzel punch.

Candlelight flickers across Frauenkirche's brick nave while the cathedral choir sings medieval carols that bounce off the legendary Devil's Footprint stone under the central tower.