Lovely party...but where's the sausage?

This weekend marked the opening of the world's largest wine festival, the Dürkheimer Wurstmarkt, in the German town of Bad Dürkheim. Consistently attracting over 600,000 guests each year, the festival is a popular and proud tradition in Germany's wine-growing Rhine valley region.

From it's beginnings in the 15th century, the festival attracted not only winegrowers but also tradesman and farmers from the region who were keen to sell their wares. The unique name (Wurstmarkt translates to "sausage market") originated in the 1800's due to the enormous amount of sausage consumption during the annual festival.

These days the fairground rides are undoubtedly a major attraction. However the copious amount of wine on offer, either drunk with lemonade or mineral water (and always in 500 millilitre doses!), remains the focus. Particularly popular are the Frühschoppen sessions: allowing those to either continue a long night of drinking or start the drinking early - the wine tents open at breakfast time. al