All the details on the 2026 Cranger Kirmes

Friday, August 7: Opening
The Cranger Kirmes 2026 will officially open at 2:00 p.m. The traditional tapping of the keg by the mayor will take place in the Cranger Festhalle. There will also be a large fireworks display at 10:30 p.m.

Saturday, August 8: Parade
From 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the parade will take place from St. Jörgen Square to the fairgrounds.

Tuesday, August 11: Children’s Afternoon
From 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., there will be a colorful program for children at the Cranger Festhalle.

Wednesday, August 12: Family Day
Special offers will be available all day at the rides and food stands.

Thursday, August 13: Seniors’ Afternoon
The Seniors’ Afternoon, featuring coffee, cake, and popular German songs, will take place at the Cranger Festhalle from 2:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Sunday, August 16: Closing Fireworks
The grand closing fireworks display will take place at 10:30 p.m.

Getting there by Public Transportation

Under the slogan “The First Ride to Crange,” the 322 Fair Line is back in service for all fairgoers. Running every 10 minutes—and often even more frequently—this line reliably connects Herne Train Station (Bus Platform 8) with the fairgrounds. In addition, eleven other lines serve the fair from Wanne-Eickel Central Station and Herne Train Station. With this service, fairgoers won’t have to wait long to catch one of the many connections.

Of course, the buses run between Crange, Herne Station, and Wanne-Eickel Central Station until “fair closing time”—around 1 a.m. on weekdays and around 3 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday nights.

If you don’t have a DeutschlandTicket, it’s best to use the eezy fare in the HCR app.

Real-time schedule information is available at any time on the HCR website and in the app: simply enter “Cranger Kirmes” as your destination stop.

When checking the schedule, simply enter “Cranger Kirmes” as your destination stop. There is an extensive additional service available.

Cranger Kirmes Stop
Lines 322 and 323C toward Herne Bahnhof, Wanne-Eickel Hbf, and the shuttle bus departure point for the P+R parking lot

Florastraße Stop
Lines 313, 340, 342, 368, 384 toward Wanne-Eickel Main Station, Eickel, Bochum, Gelsenkirchen

Flora Marzina Stop
Routes 312, 329, NE34 toward Wanne-Eickel Main Station, Herne Station, Herne-Süd, Eickel, Röhlinghausen, Unser Fritz

Recklinghauser Straße stop
Lines 312 and NE34 toward Wanne-Eickel Hbf, Herne Bahnhof, Herne-Süd, Unser Fritz, and lines SB27, NE7 toward Herten, Wanne-Eickel Hb

Getting there by bike

For a convenient trip without traffic jams or the hassle of finding parking, we recommend traveling by bike. There are five secure bike parking areas at Crange:

Cranger Kirmes bus stop (Heerstraße)

Dorstener Straße/near the fair office

on the Rhine-Herne Canal/from Recklinghauser Straße via the canal path (includes charging stations for e-bikes)

on the Rhine-Herne Canal/Wanne-Eickel lock

Hauptstraße/near Florastraße.

Use of all supervised bike racks costs just one euro per bike. The bike parking areas are staffed from one hour before until one hour after the Cranger Kirmes opening hours.

Getting there by car

The Park-and-Ride parking lot is located at the Herne-Baukau-Zentrum exit on the A42 and is signposted from both the A42 and A43. Buses run directly to the fairgrounds (Cranger Kirmes stop on Heerstraße) and back, mostly every 10 minutes.

P+R tickets, priced at €7.99 for up to five people, can be purchased on-site using a debit or credit card, Google Pay, or Apple Pay. Cash payments are not accepted.

P+R Herne-Baukau – Cranger Kirmes – Every 10 Minutes

The HCR shuttle buses run
Mon–Thu approx. 1:00 p.m. – 12:30 a.m.
Fri & Sat approx. 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.
Sun approx. 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 a.m.

Directions:
From the A40, take the A43 toward Münster, then the A42 toward Dortmund
From the A2, take the A43 toward Wuppertal, then the A42 toward Dortmund
From the A43, take the A42 toward Dortmund
From the A45, take the A42 toward Duisburg
Take the Herne-Baukau exit (please follow the signs!)

The address for your GPS is Forellstraße 48. The building is diagonally across from the car dealership (Google Maps).
Park in designated parking lots

These are the two largest parking lots:
Rathausstraße 72–84, 44649 Herne
Dorstener Str. 360, 44653 Herne

You can find additional parking options on the parking map or via the City of Herne’s interactive traffic map. However, we do not recommend traveling by car.