Franconian Beer Message Board

Sandkerwa Anybody?
Posted by Gerhard Schoolmann on 2015-05-10 05:16:42
Sandkerwa isn't a beerfestival similar to the Great Britisch Beerfestival. It's a "Kirchweih" or "Kerwa" (local language), a festival around the yearly ordination of the local church (buildung). Each village and also each suburban (Stadtteil, part of the city) has it's own "Kerwa". You can find a calendar with the dates and locations:
http://www.kirchweihkalender-bamberg.de/_plaza/kerwa.neo

The district Sand (the name comes from sandstone, a material that has been broken down from the local hills (p.e. the Stephansberg - Stephan mountain is full of caves; the brewery Schlenkerla use such caves with a cool temperature for their brewery). The main street has the name "Sandstraße". The festival area is limited of the Dome, the Markusbrücke, the castle Geyerswörth and the Obstmarkt.

The community Bürgerverein Sand (civic organisation) organises the Sandkerwa. They make a culture program, p.e. with the Fischerstechen and fireworks, and they give licenses to caterer, pubs and showmen, who can make their stalls there.

The Festival website
http://www.sandkerwa.de/startseite/
Date in this year (20th to 24th August, from thursday to monday). It's in each year the last full weekend in August.
No entrance fee. The beer prices are a little bit higher as regular. We take 3.50 Euro for a Huppendorfer Vollbier, but the prices are different from stall to stall, higher in the crowded centric area, cheaper in the outlying areas.

They have no quality control of the stalls and over the tapped beer. But together with the regular pubs, brewpubs You can find maybe near 100 different beers. The pubs tap their regular beers. The most stalls tap the same beer(s) every year. P.e. we (the Café Abseits) have a stall behind the Schlenkerla, offering Huppendorfer Vollbier and Radler).

Notice: Around the Sandkerwa it is extreme difficult to get rooms.
Maybe it's possible to get rooms far away in Bamberg-Country. You can use additional bus lines, called "Sandkerwa Express", which drive also in the late evening/night. The lines of 2015 haven't been published, but will published some weeks before:
https://www.landkreis-bamberg.de/%C3%96PNV-Bus-und-Bahn
They have special prices (5 Euro???). You can't use Your regular longtime ticket.
Or You prefer rooms p.e. in Bamberg-Bug (outside the center of Bamberg) and walk.

If You search at Youtube for "Sandkerwa" or "Sandkerwa 2014) You can find many videos, that give an impression of the Sandkerwa, p.e.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMe_aGJUxJQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS_f_Y-Z6vs
https://youtu.be/cS_f_Y-Z6vs

Sometimes locals make their own, private part of the Sandkerwa and invite friends in their house or garden (it's a little bit illegal, if they invite unknown persons). In the last year someone has offered p.e. the famous Heckel beer on gravity for a donation. But You have to ask local beer friends for the places and need connections to be invited. Maybe You can ask Nick, Frank Wetzel or me.

I can recommend the bar of the beer lover Gert Pappke
https://www.facebook.com/gert.papke?fref=ts
He changes his galery to a seasonal pub and offers p.e. Krug in Geisfeld and Büttner in Untergreuth.