Does anyone know of fun/festive things to do on Easter in Dresden?
Posted by
Australia
1072 posts
There's a medieval Easter fair on April 8-9 in Freital which is 10km from Dresden.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you for the tip! We will check it out.
Posted by
95 posts
Very festive is a concert in Frauenkirche - e.g. St. John's passion on Good Friday at 8 pm.
https://www.frauenkirche-dresden.de/kalender/eventleser/johannespassion-2048631
Or St. Matthew's passion in Kreuzkirche on Thursday and Good Friday. Or check any other church in Dresden.
Semper Opera house has Richard Strauss Festival over Easter, ARABELLA on Good Friday and ROSENKAVALIER on Monday, plus special concerts inbetween.
You might be lucky and the famous camellia is still in (late) bloom in the park of Schloss Pillnitz. The property is worth a visit without the camellia also, though.
schlosspillnitz.de
If interested in narrow-gauge steam trains, check out Weisseritztalbahn and Lössnitzgrundbahn.
https://www.sdg-bahn.de/
Very different and highly recommended: A day trip to Bautzen and the Sorbian (slavic) region some 40 km east of Dresden (Bautzen can easily be reached by train, smaller towns have bus service) on Easter Sunday. There are Easter processions on (beautifully decorated) horses with singing in surrounding villages (very nice e.g. in Panschwitz-Kuckau at Cistercian convent St. Marienstern) and in Bautzen itself. Bautzen also has a fun fair and lots of open monuments that day. You will see a lot of painted Easter eggs, decorated fountains, people in traditional garb and so on.
ostern-bautzen.de (in German, but google translate is your friend)
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you for the great information. I didn't know that Dresden is known for it's famous camellia. I am a gardener, I will definitely need to get myself over to that park! I expected that the music would be exceptional; thank you so much for the thoughtful detail. My excitement for this trip is growing more and more everyday.
Posted by
95 posts
You're welcome! As a gardener yourself you would probably be interested in the German and Saxon Camellia show in Schloss Zuschendorf, which is a short train and bus ride southeast of Dresden. According to their website (and from own experience/visits in previous years) their camellia show will be open until mid April. (Some azaleas will already be in bloom in the greenhouses also, I am sure.) It looks like their show this year is some co-operation with an Italian camellia gardener from Tuscany.