Oktoberfest Besides the Oktoberfest, there are other public festivals that take place at the same location. In April/May it's the Munich "Frühlingsfest" (spring festival) and Tollwood Festival in December with 650,000 visitors. After the Oktoberfest the next largest public fairs in Germany are the "Cannstatter Volksfest" in Stuttgart with about 4.5 million visitors each year, the "Cranger Kirmes" in Herne (Wanne-Eickel) (the largest fair in Northrhine-Westphalia) with 4.4 million visitors, the Rheinkirmes in Düsseldorf (called largest fair on the Rhine), and the "Freimarkt" in Bremen (the biggest fair in northern Germany) with over 4 million visitors per year each. Also noteworthy
Largest Fair on the Rhine million), and the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart (4.2 million). The Largest Fair on the Rhine has its roots in an annual celebration in honor of: The celebration of both events took place first in 1435. At the time it was organized by the local St. Sebastianus shooting club around a traditional shooting competition (called Schützenfest – marksmen festival), a local annual tradition involving a wooden target on a pole, usually a representation of an eagle. In the 16th century, the fair was said to be an occasion for King Henry VIII” to introduce his future wife Anna van Kleve to