Annual Themed Festivals: Maria Alm, Austria

Since my heart very strongly lies in Austria, my favorite country in Europe, let me describe the great annual festival that my wife, Judy, and I have attended on eight occasions in the past dozen years.

The Bauernherbstfest (Peasants Fall Festival) is held the third Saturday in September in Maria Alm, right in the Austrian Alps. The village is 45 to 60 minutes from beautiful Salzburg. 

From the Salzburg airport, the route we take goes through Bad Reichenhall, Germany, back into Austria to Lofer, down to Saalfelden, then 5 kilometers up to Maria Alm — a very scenic route on good paved roads. The highest mountain peak just outside Maria Alm is the Hochkönig, with majestic views of the valley below.

Maria Alm is a small village, about four blocks long, with at least six hotels and numerous Gasthofs (inns). All of the hotels and Gasthofs have flower boxes hanging from the balconies with, in season, lovely geraniums.

During the Bauernherbstfest, in an event called Almabtrieb, farmers bring their cows down from the mountains for the winter. They decorate the cows with huge floral arrangements and fir branches and parade them right down Dorfplatz, the town’s main street, as thousands of people watch.

All day long, bands play from one end of the village to the other. The local Maria Alm Band band starts off the festivities by marching down Dorfplatz, stopping to be welcomed by the mayor. Another band with a singer plays around the small dance floor. In the center of Maria Alm, an 8-piece brass band plays with instruments that shine as the sun bounces off of them. The band members have steins of beer to help their playing.

 The local Schuhplattler dance group dances several times during the day. At the end of each performance, a round of schnapps comes out to serve as a toast.

Several vendors sell brats and sandwiches, and there are several beer tents, including one of the old brewery from Salzburg, Stiegl Beer, in production since 1492.

One can stroll down the main street all day long or sit at one of the tables that have been set up. Most of the Austrians are dressed in dirndls or lederhosen. Everyone is in such a jolly mood, drinking beer and eating all day long. Busloads come from all over Austria and Germany. Hotels are booked a year in advance.

The morning after, one would never know there had been a festival the day before. All of the tables are folded up and moved, and the street has been polished clean by the village’s water truck.

The Bauernherbstfest is scheduled for Sept. 17 in 2016 and Sept. 16 in 2017.

During our visits, we always stay at the Alpenland Sporthotel Maria Alm (Hochkönigstraße 31, 5761 Maria Alm, Austria; phone +43 6584 74910 or email mariaalm@alpenland.at or visit www.american resortsintl.com/en/mariaalm).

In 2015 we had a special rate of $90 per night for eight nights, breakfast not included. We were in room A-310, a 2-bedroom suite with a full bath and a nice dining/living room, including a TV with English channels. 

The hotel offers full-board and half-board options, with Austrian fare in the main dining room. The hotel lobby has a full-service bar, a piano and, for hotel guests, computers. The hotel also has a marvelous indoor spa with a swimming pool, locker rooms and a tremendous sauna, where clothes are not allowed to be worn, though, of course, towels are provided. 

 While in the area, we usually drive to the Königssee, a small lake in southeastern Bavaria (a few miles north, through mountains up and then back), or Ramsau, a small hamlet with a river rushing through it (about 45 to 50 minutes away, southeast of Lofer), or Berchtesgaden (about an hour north of Maria Alm or 30 minutes south of Salzburg). It’s a very picturesque area.

DOUG BARNETT 

Ann Arbor, MI