Thousands of residents and visitors participated in Dresden’s traditional sweetbread festival on Saturday.
Footage features events participants marching through city streets wearing historical costumes accompanied by musicians.
Traditional fruit bread known as Stollen is a special Christmas cake usually filled with fruits, nuts, and marzipan.
A giant piece of Stollen weighing nearly 4,000 kg was presented at the Festival in 2019, however, in 2020 and 2021 the event did not take place due to coronavirus restrictions.
“I am happy that we can be together here, that so many people have come. That so many make a contribution to the fact that this festival can take place in Dresden with such enthusiasm, such soul and so typically Saxon,” Michael Kretschmer, Governor of Saxony, said at the festival.
The event has its roots in the 18th century. Saxony’s ruler Augustus the Strong organised a festival, known as Zeithainer Lustlager, with thousands of guests taking part in the celebrations.
The tradition to bake the giant cake was reinstated in 1994 after the reunification of Germany. The huge Stollen is cut and sold to visitors at Dresden’s Christmas market while proceeds are transferred to charity.
