Somehow I missed this event last year. And when I saw the poster on a light post earlier this week I was flabbergasted.

I know this is a big wine producing area. And I know that the specialty wine exclusive to this part of Germany is a white wine called Gutedel. So it makes sense to have a day to celebrate it.

To have that celebration on May 30, Ascension day, also makes sense. It is already a holiday, so people can attend daytime events. Even bring the family, though I hadn’t thought of a wine festival as a family event. That must be the Canadian in me. After all, they are promising wine, food, music and fun. Plus shuttle buses

The shuttle buses are required given the traffic situation. That is what surprised me. For Gutedel Day the L125 highway that links the towns of this area, Mullheim, Zunzingen, Britzingen, Laufen, Sulzburg, Ballrechten-Dottingen and Staufen (and I may have forgotten a few) is closed. This is the main road in the area, and they are shutting fourteen kilometres of it down from 9 a.m. for a wine festival.

Somehow I missed them doing it last year, or maybe they didn’t. I’m a little bemused at the prospect. Certainly they could have the festival without shutting down the highway? If the intent is to keep people from drinking and driving, I’m not sure that doing it this way will do more than delay things.

Anyone traveling the area on that day will have to use alternate routes. Which is fine if you know them. Then again, you could always just drive through the vineyards instead. There are roads there that run parallel to the highway.

Still, I must admit I’m intrigued. If the weather is good, I’ll probably check some of it out. And report back to you. Though I suspect the music will be all accordion bands. That would be traditional, but not terribly appealing to me.

What about where you live? Would they close the roads for a wine festival? Or for any festival? Feel free to tell me in the comment section.