Neuwied is a town protected from the River Rhine by a dyke. Each year it celebrates its heritage as a town by staging the colourful Deichstadtfest – the Dyke Town Festival.

The Deichstadtfest (in English, the Dyke Town Festival) is celebrated on the second weekend of every July, when around 80,000 people flock into the town.

The festival is quite a size. Five performance stages are erected through the town and from Thursday to Sunday, for over 80 hours, the town is alive with the sound of very contrasting styles of music – from Rock, Pop, Jazz and Soul to classical music and traditional folk music and even including the sound of the bagpies (of the German Dudelsack kind).

The festival theme is music, fun and good fellowship (Musik, Spaß und Geselligkeit). And where would the festivities be without hearty drinking and eating? Food and drink are served from some 60 stalls – not just German food or the traditional dishes of the Rhineland but food specialities from other European countries.

But if you do go to join in the fun, make sure to find first the stall of the Freundeskreis Neuwied-Bromley.

Pictures...the Deichstadtfest at night and by day