Hanover Schützenfest
The Hanover Marksmen's Festival in Hanover, Lower Saxony is the largest marksmen's festival in the world. Founded in, the festival takes place once a year. It is commercially organized and includes a large entertainment program featuring 250 rides and booths, as well as 5 large beer tents.
A highlight of the festival is the marksmen's parade comprising over 10,000 participants from Germany and all around the world, and featuring around 5,000 marksmen, over 100 marching and fanfare bands, and more than 60 wagons, carriages and floats. It is the longest parade in Europe, and perhaps the world. More than 1.5million people visit the festival every year. The main landmark of the festival is the Steiger Ferris Wheel, which can carry 420 people in its 42 passenger cabins.