The Hanover Marksmen's Festival (German: Schützenfest Hannover) in Hanover, Lower Saxony is the largest marksmen's festival in the world.
It is commercially organized and includes a large entertainment program featuring 250 rides and booths, as well as 5 large beer tents.
A highlight of the festival is the 12-kilometre-long (7.5 mi) marksmen's parade comprising over 10,000 participants from Germany and all around the world, and featuring around 5,000 marksmen, over 100 marching and fanfare bands, and more than 60 wagons, carriages and floats.
[citation needed] More than 1.5 million people visit the festival every year.
The main landmark of the festival is the 60-metre-tall (200 ft) Steiger Ferris Wheel, which can carry 420 people in its 42 passenger cabins.