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The Merano Grape Festival

Evolving tradition

See you from October 16 to 18, 2026

140 years of the Grape Festival – a milestone worth celebrating! South Tyrolean traditions are interpreted in style and enriched by many new features at the Merano Grape Festival. Dating back to 1886, it is the most profoundly rooted event in Merano's social life. Various initiatives on Saturday and Sunday show the authentic and young face of the historic festival.

Anyone wishing to immerse themselves carefree in a weekend full of tradition will be in exactly the right place at the Merano Grape Festival. Folk music sets the tone – sometimes in a contemporary guise, and now and again with more than just a hint of the avant-garde. Classics of South Tyrolean cuisine, shaped by influences from both north and south, define the culinary offering and reflect the character of Merano itself: the city’s soul also has a cosmopolitan side.

Local produce from the Merano Market and selected wines from the Burgraviato region, many of them award-winning, play an essential role at the Grape Festival, which reaches its climax on Sunday with a procession of brass bands and groups through the town centre.

We wish you lots of enjoyment!

A Festive Opening for the Anniversary
The ceremonial start of 140 years of the Grape Festival

The opening ceremony will take place on October 16, 2026 at 7:00 pm at the Kursaal in Merano. To mark the 140th anniversary of the Merano Grape Festival, the opening evening offers a fascinating historical journey through 140 years of the Grape Festival and 190 years of Merano as a spa town. Welcome addresses and insights into the history of these two milestones, both so significant for our city, lead into the musical highlight of the evening: the Merano District Wind Orchestra, specially formed for the occasion, will perform under the direction of Bernhard Schlögl, artistic director of the Innsbruck Promenade Concerts. Accomplished wind music, performed by talented musicians from the bands of the Burggrafenamt, will bring together tradition, quality, and community for a memorable evening.

Admission to the concert is free; however, given the limited seating capacity, guests are kindly asked to reserve a seat in advance via the QR code in the program brochure.

The traditional grand parade
The crowning moment of the Grape Festival

The festival parade will start on October 18, 2026, at 2:15 PM at the Vinschgauer Gate.

The area around the Vinschgauer Gate marks the start of the parade and is reserved for the floats and groups. We kindly ask spectators to keep this area clear.

The traditional grand parade is the undisputed highlight of the Merano Grape Festival. The institutions and clubs involved already begin days before to decorate their floats with much dedication, passion and attention to detail. Most of the floats stand for traditions that are celebrated with particular pride at the Merano Grape Festival. These "classics" are joined each year new interesting companions.

Some floats have long since become famous beyond South Tyrol: for example, the so-called "Kundschafter" of the farmer's youth Lagundo with its 300 kilogram giant grape or the Marling float "Apfelkrone", which participated for the first time in 1949. Particularly symbolic wagons are also the floats of the "Schützen" with the title "South Tyrol - The cradle of Tyrol" and that with the coat of arms of Merano.

Route of the Grand Parade: Porta Venosta, via delle Corse, corso Libertà superiore, piazza della Rena, Passeggiata Lungo Passirio, ponte Teatro, piazza Terme.

Download the parade route map here.
Please note: the bus stops highlighted in orange are reserved exclusively for the participating brass bands after the festival procession.

Floats

The most famous floats are placed in various places in town, such as the Marling apple crown on Sandplatz, the float Kundschafter with giant grape on the Kurpromenade and the float Schloss Trauttmansdorff on Thermenplatz.

The Marlinger apple crown float, made in 1949, is the oldest of all the floats of the Meran Grape Festival. Its dimensions are remarkable: It is over five metres long, 2.20 metres wide and weighs 2.3 tonnes (of which over 500 kilos are apples).

Where: Kurpromenade near stairway

With its 300-kilogram grape, the "Kundschafter" float from Algund is one of the essential floats in the procession. The float weighs about half a tonne; it is 4.50 metres high and 1.60 metres wide. The giant float itself is one and a half meters tall. The float was first decorated in this form in 1951.

Where: Kurpromenade near "merano" logo

The Saltner – Guardian of the Vineyard

Anyone who plunges into the hustle and bustle of the Merano Grape Festival may well come across a figure they are unlikely to forget in a hurry: the Saltner – staring, admiring and photographing are all very much encouraged.

What is a Saltner?
He is dressed in leather breeches, leather gaiters, and a richly embroidered belt buckled around his waist. He wears chains made from wild boar and rodent teeth, and a hat adorned with peacock and pheasant feathers, with fox tails dangling from either side. In his hands he carries a halberd.

Right up until the 1960s, villages would round up their young men – unmarried they had to be, and honest they were expected to be – to keep a watchful eye over the vineyards. Their duty began either on the 25th of July, the feast of Saint James, or on the 10th of August, the feast of Saint Lawrence, and lasted through to the end of the harvest. The vineyard was guarded by day and by night, and the Saltner's imposing presence was also meant to deter any would-be thieves.

Dress Code
Dirndl & Lederhose

Every festival has its rituals, and what could be a better outfit than Dirndl & Lederhosen to enjoy the weekend of the Meran Grape Festival perfectly dressed? Runggaldier 1896 - Tracht & Tradition: under the Laubengasse (arcade alley), a traditional house for stylish and traditional costumes. Here you are sure to find the right dress for the festival.

The Merano Tourist Office team was dressed by Boutique Runggaldier Tracht & Tradition.

Dating back to 1886, it is the most rooted event in the social life of Merano.

The Saltner protected until the '60s the ripe grapes from thieves. Mostly living in a simple dwelling in the vineyard, the Saltner wore chains of animal teeth and cloaks of consecrated coins, crosses and fox tails. Colorful feathers on his hat should frighten humans as well as animals.

The float "Marlinger Wagen" with the apple crown is the oldest of all the floats at the Grape Festival, it was built in 1949 for the first time. Its dimensions are remarkable: it is more than five meters long, 2.20 meters wide and weighs 2.3 tons (of which more than 500 kilos are accounted for by apples).

With its 300 kilogram grape the float "Kundschafter" from Lagundo is also one of the most important floats of the move. The car weighs about half a ton, it is 4.50 meters high and 1.60 meters wide. The giant grape itself is one and a half meters high. The float was first decorated in 1951 in this form.

None. The Grand Parade of the Merano Grape Festival is the only one with horse-drawn floats in the entire Alpine region.

Josef Gögele from Merano, better known as "Kiendl" among Haflinger breeders and grape festival insiders, was first involved in the 1956 parade. In 2015 he celebrated his sixtieth participation in the event. Since the beginning of the 70s Gögele - himself an extremely successful horse breeder - chooses the Haflinger horses every year for the parade. "The horses trust me and I trust them": thus the breeder explains his special relationship with the steeds. In addition, he is also responsible for verifying the functionality of the float: he carries out tests at the municipal construction yard.