Erlangen, February 27, 2026 – The Erlangen City Council decided in its meeting on February 26, 2026, to allow a Sunday shopping event on the first Sunday after Easter in conjunction with the Erlangen Spring Festival. This will take place on April 12, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in Erlangen's city center.
With the new Bavarian Shop Closing Act (BayLadSchlG), which came into force on August 1, 2025, municipalities can authorize up to four Sundays and public holidays for the opening of retail outlets, provided the opening is tied to a special occasion that justifies the temporal and spatial constraints. The city council has now followed the recommendation of the Erlangen City Management Association and decided not to utilize all four legally permissible dates. Instead, there will be one date in 2026, namely the first Sunday after Easter.
All businesses in the entire city center are invited to participate: from Martin-Luther-Platz to the southern end of Werner-von-Siemens-Straße, as well as from the train station to Bohlenplatz.
The Erlangen Spring Festival, which has become a fixture on the city's event calendar in recent years, qualifies as an occasion for the Bavarian Shop Closing Act. Covering an area of over 2.000 square meters, numerous stalls offer culinary delights, rides, face painting, puppet shows, a children's carousel, and other attractions. A beer garden with musical entertainment is also available for adults. Several thousand visitors from Erlangen and the surrounding area are expected over the course of the festival.
The fairground operators also expressly welcome the city council's decision: "We offer a wonderful opportunity to take a seat in our beer garden while strolling through the city, to enjoy delicious food and drinks, and to spend quality family time with various activities. The fact that the Sunday shopping event is allowed to take place on this exact date is a great asset to the spring festival. We thank the city of Erlangen and the Erlangen City Management for their support and trust."
The Sunday shopping event thus attractively combines the spring festival with an additional shopping opportunity in the city center and attracts guests from near and far on the last day of the Easter holidays.
The City Management Erlangen eV cordially invites all businesses in the city center to participate in the open Sunday shopping event and to actively shape this day together.
More information at www.visit-erlangen.de/verkaufsoffenersonntag/