It is something like the unofficial national holiday of Königswiesen: March 19th, St. Joseph’s Day and also the occasion for the 30th time for the large-scale Josefimarkt with its horse festival. Because St. Joseph’s Day falls on a Sunday this year, there will be two days of celebrations in the town center – on Saturday and Sunday.
Skilled beer wagon drivers
One of the highlights of the anniversary Josefimarkt tomorrow, Saturday, is the festive drive up of traditional beer wagons from 1 p.m. to the market square.
The heavy vehicles are drawn by draft horses and ponies of the southern German brown, Black Forest fox or Percheron black breeds. Beer wagons from the Braucommune Freistadt as well as from Kaiser, Zwettler, Lind’n Bräu, Falter Bräu and the Löwen brewery have been registered. After that, the carters will compete in driving skills on a course that includes cider barrels, a wooden bridge and a watercourse, on which they will also have to align their carts backwards. The festival program will continue from 3 p.m. with the official beer tapping and a tavern roas.
The program continues on Sunday morning with a Josefi service and the arena trade show. The next highlight of the Josefimarkt weekend follows at 10.30 a.m. with the entry of riders and teams. A special feature is the assessment of the registered horses by a veterinarian. This tradition has existed in Königswiesen for six decades: in the event of death, the owners receive this value from the support association for horse owners.
