Stollen Maiden with the official Dresden plaque and a small stollen on the side. Each year a "Stollen Maiden" is chosen to represent the festival.

The 16th annual Stollen Festival will be happening on December 5th, 2009 in Dresden, Germany.

The historical event is one of the highlights of the busy and colorful pre-Christmas period in Dresden.

Each year a giant Stollen is baked, a traditional German bread, weighing approximately 3 to 4 tons and is paraded through the city’s Old Town (Altstadt) towards the Dresden Christmas Market (Striezelmarkt).

Bakers and pastry-chefs representing their trade at the festival.

The festival consists of many decorated horse-drawn wagons, carriages and coaches, bands, horsemen, standard-bearers, bakers, pastry-chefs, the Stollen Maiden, craftsmen and other historic figures. Not only is the world’s biggest Stollen and the biggest knife presented during the procession, but also scenes of the Stollen history are re-enacted.

The history of the Stollen Festival dates back to the beginning of the 18th century. Friedrich August I., better known as August the Strong, loved feasts, and in 1730 impressed his subjects with a giant 1.7-tonne Stollen big enough for everyone to have a portion.

Today, the festival attracts more than 700,000 visitors from all over the world.

For more information about the event, you can visit the official Stollen Festival website.

The Dresden Stollen Festival
http://www.stollenfest.com

Related posts:

1. Prague Food Festival 2009
2. Czech Beer Festival from May 22 – 31th 2009
3. Canada’s 2009 Christkindl Market – A Festival of German Culture