Apfelfest / Sunnseitn Apple Week (Apple Festival)

The harvest festival on the apple plateau

In the heart of the Isarco Valley, just a few kilometers from Brixen, the municipality of Natz-Schabs is one of the most famous fruit-growing plateaus in South Tyrol. Here, where apple orchards stretch as far as the eye can see on the sunny side (the Sunnseitn), the Apfelfest—the grand Apple Festival that concludes the Sunnseitn Apple Week—takes place every second Sunday of October.

The event is a true harvest thanksgiving festival (Erntedankfest) rooted in local farming traditions. Celebrated for over thirty years since the early 1990s, it has become one of the most beloved autumn events in the Brixen area.

The festival day

The Apfelfest Sunday begins in the morning with the traditional Frühschoppen, a long brunch accompanied by white sausages (Weißwurst), pretzels, music, and tastings of freshly picked apples. A farmers' market is set up along the village streets, offering typical South Tyrolean products: speck, aromatic herbs, honey, vegetables, freshly pressed apple juice, and local handicrafts.

• Morning: Frühschoppen with white sausages and pretzels, musical entertainment, and apple harvest tastings
• Guided orchard walk: A guided excursion through the fruit groves (in some editions, extending to the Melix fruit cooperative in Brixen)
• Afternoon: The grand harvest parade travels through Natz
• Crowning of the Apple Queen in front of the community center

The parade and the Apple Queen

The highlight is the grand harvest thanksgiving procession, which travels through the village in the early afternoon with brass bands, allegorical floats prepared by local associations, and a carriage decorated for guests of honor. The centerpiece is the impressive apple crown, composed of approximately 3,000 red and yellow South Tyrolean apples.

At the end of the parade, the coronation of the new Apfelkönigin (Apple Queen) of Natz-Schabs takes place. A young woman chosen from the municipality's districts, she will represent the apple plateau at a regional and international level for a year, accompanied by the outgoing queen. The festivities continue throughout the afternoon with music, dancing, and apple-based dishes, such as apple fritters and freshly pressed local juice.

The Sunnseitn Apple Week

The Apfelfest is the heart of the Sunnseitn Apple Week. During the days surrounding the festival, the plateau offers guided hikes through the orchards, visits to fruit cooperatives, tastings, and themed menus in participating restaurants, where apples take center stage in seasonal dishes. It is an opportunity to discover the fruit-growing culture that makes Natz-Schabs a symbol of South Tyrolean apple production.