The Cannstatter Volksfest is an annual three-week festival in Stuttgart, Germany. It is sometimes also referred to by foreign visitors as the Stuttgart Beer Festival although it is actually more of an autumnal fair. Locals to Stuttgart variously refer to the festival as the Cannstatter Wasen or just Wasen.
Although the Volkfest is not strictly speaking a beer festival, it is considered by many to be the second largest beer festival in the world after the Munich Oktoberfest. According to estimates about 4.2 million people visited the festival in 2006. The Volksfest begins one week later than the Oktoberfest.
The Volksfest takes place from the end of September to the beginning of October on an area called the Cannstatter Wasen. The extensive Wasen area is located in the Stuttgart city district of Bad Cannstatt, near the river Neckar. A smaller variant of the Stuttgart Festival - the Stuttgart Spring Festival is also held each year on the Wasen. more infos here
