Bielefeld - Leineweber-Markt

The Leineweber Market is Bielefeld's oldest and therefore most traditional city festival. Every year at the end of May, the city centre of Bielefeld becomes an open-air event stage. Visitors from all over East Westphalia-Lippe then enjoy an extremely entertaining mix of street theatre, street food, cabaret, folklore, jazz, rock and show spectacles - all for free.

Over 1,000 performers in front of and behind the scenes ensure that everything runs smoothly on and behind the stages. Nostalgic fairground hustle and bustle and children's activities complete the stage programme.

Why ‘Leineweber’ anyway?

The Leineweber market got its name in 1975, one year after the premiere of the city festival (on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Basic Law). At that time, the people of Bielefeld were invited to submit name suggestions in a competition. A total of 5,000 suggestions were received, including humorous ideas such as ‘Pils-Fete’, ‘City-Sause’ or ‘Dölmer-Party’. It turned out differently (fortunately), as the jury decided in favour of ‘Leineweber-Markt’.

The name naturally alludes to the city's history and the enormous importance of the textile industry in the past. The linen weavers were an important branch of the trade back then. Incidentally, every visitor to the town festival can also visit the Leineweber. Next to the church in Altstädter Kirchpark is the monument of the same name from 1909, which also adorns posters, adverts and other graphics for the town festival.

Incidentally, the striking facial features of the bronze monument were created by a man from Bielefeld, the former Jöllenbeck linen weaver Heinrich Heienbrok. He was the model at the time. With his pipe, knotted stick and holster, Heienbrock went down in the history of the city, as his likeness is now one of Bielefeld's most recognisable landmarks.

Source: Bielefeld Marketing GmbH

Travel information:

By public transport:

- By tram: Rathaus stop

By car:

- Venue: City centre

Car park:

- Saba Neues Rathaus multi-storey car park (Niederwall 23)

- Am Theater multi-storey car park (Brunnenstraße 4)

- APCOA Am Jahnplatz multi-storey car park (Renteistraße)