The Oldenburgers and horses are traditionally a great love! At least since the legendary Count Anton Günther was envied all over Europe for his horse breeding, Oldenburg has been known as the horse country par excellence. Therefore, it was only logical that a place was created here dedicated to equestrian sports. With this, a real success story began. The starting point was set by hereditary Grand Duke Nikolaus of Oldenburg in 1948. His goal was to establish a tournament representing Oldenburg's equestrianism and horse breeding far beyond the region's borders. Therefore, he made this approximately 10-hectare part of the palace park available to construct a horse racecourse. The Duke used the famous Derby Park in Hamburg-Klein-Flottbek as a model.
Since then, the annual "Oldenburg State Tournament" has been presented here every summer. In the meantime, the event has established itself as a 6-day, international top-class equestrian event, better known to the fans as the "Rasteder Sixdays"! With growing enthusiasm, the showground is now also used for many other major events. For example, "International Rasteder Music Days" are famous. Around 4000 musicians from more than five nations flock to Rastede every July to perform on the showground: Fanfare and marching bands, show bands and music ensembles show off their skills. A certain sporting spirit hovers over the event, too, because it is all about the European Open Champion title in various categories, such as marching parades, concerts and shows.
After the music days, friends of motorbike racing get their money's worth in August every year. Then the "International Grass Track Race" rolls over the grounds with motorbikes, sidecars and quads. By the way, with a length of 1000 metres, our grass track is considered by experts to be the fastest in the world! The latest highlight on the showground is the "Medieval Fantasy Spectaculum", a festival for medieval fans with knights, jugglers and everything your heart desires. It takes place on Whitsun every year. Of course - last but not least - our "Ellernfest" must not be unmentioned, a popular folk festival annually on the second weekend of September, where we celebrate the restoration of our beautiful Ellern pond.