Shooting festival

For the Schützenfest in Adelaide, South Australia, see Schützenfest (Adelaide).

A shooting festival, Schützenfest (German: [ˈʃʏtsn̩ˌfɛst] in German and koningsschieten or koningsschieting in Dutch, is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition. It is a tradition in various European countries including Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

At a shooting festival, contestants compete in various target shooting competitions, such as shooting at a wooden eagle. The competition's winner becomes the "king of marksmen" (Schützenkönig in German and Schutterskoning in Dutch) until the following year's competition.

The commercially-organized Hanover Schützenfest in Germany is the largest marksmen's funfair in the world with more than 7,000 marksmen, 250 rides and inns, five large beer tents, and the "Marksmen's Parade". The parade, with more than 10,000 participants from Germany and all over the world and more than 100 bands, is 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) long. It is the longest parade in the world. The landmark of the funfair is one of the highest transportable big wheels (US = Ferris wheels) in the world. It is 60 metres (200 ft) high and offers seating for 420 people in 42 cabins.

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