Now in its 31st year, the Zelt-Musik Festival – one of Europe's longest-running tent festivals – will be taking place in Freiburg im Breisgau from 26 June to 14 July 2013. Visitors flock to the unique setting that combines spectacular tents, nature and culture with a varied programme featuring an unparalleled line-up of acts from the worlds of jazz, classical, blues and rock. Numerous musicians from around the world, stars and newcomers will be performing. This village of tents set amid the green rolling hills just outside Freiburg, next door to the Mundenhof wildlife park, has its own distinctive charm that guarantees festival-goers an unforgettable experience.

Welcoming 200,000 visitors a year, Kaiserburg Castle is the cultural and historical highlight of Nuremberg alongside the Germanic National Museum. From July 2013 the main castle building will feature exciting room installations, 3D animations about the building's history, audio guides and themed guided tours – offering a variety of ways to explore the Kaiserburg. The new exhibition gives visitors a unique opportunity to discover the significance of this structure and its eventful history – all from within the castle walls.

Destination Germany is famed for its wide variety of castles, palaces and churches that offer every visitor a fascinating insight into the depths of Germany's extensive tradition and history.

Travemünde Week is a series of sailing regattas that is taking place this year from 19 to 28 July at Lübeck Bay off the coast of Travemünde. Organised by Lübeck Yacht Club and other sailing clubs in northern Germany, it is the second-largest international regatta in the world.

The high-calibre programme of entertainment, the Festival Mile with culinary specialities and the thrilling close-up action of the sailing competitions is a unique combination offered only at Travemünde Week. Around a million visitors are expected to attend this top maritime event to see the impressive sailing ships from all around the world.

And if this sporting spectacle is not enough, you can set out on a breathtaking walking tour from Travemünde along the E9 European long-distance walking route.

'Dreamcatcher' is the theme for this year's Cologne Lights, which is taking place on the banks of the river Rhine between Hohenzollern Bridge and Zoo Bridge on Saturday 13 July. Fireworks, Bengal fire, waterfalls and hundreds of thousands of sparklers will transform Cologne into a dazzling sea of colour. The spectacle will be accompanied by a convoy of fifty illuminated riverboats that will play music all along this section of the Rhine.

The highlight of the evening will be several grand firework displays along the river. Held annually since 2001, this fireworks event set to music is expected to attract thousands of visitors again this year.

After a two-year break, the Fairytale Festival returns to the mill park at Neukirchen near Duisburg on 6 and 7 July 2013. At this event, now in its seventh edition, some of the best German-speaking storytellers around will capture the imagination of their listeners with their engaging style of narration. Among them are 'old friends' as well as a hand-picked selection of new storytellers from Germany and Austria, who will bring to life tales of ghouls, witches and princesses.

The park surrounding the Old Mill in Neukirchen-Vluyn is a wonderful setting and will again provide a fairytale backdrop for the festival. You can switch from one storyteller to the next in order to enjoy all their wonderful tales being narrated in a lively, animated fashion.

This year's Splash! Festival – so called because of its waterside location – will be taking place on the Ferropolis peninsula near Gräfenhainichen, east of Dessau, from 12 to 14 July 2013. The predominant styles of music are hip-hop, reggae and drum 'n' bass. In addition to a large stage, there are also tents offering dancehall music.

A highlight is the annual 'sound clash' when two or more sound systems are used to measure who fires up the crowds the most in the hip-hop after-show party tent. The Splash! Festival also alternates as the venue for the preliminary rounds and finals of the ITF DJ World Championships and offers visitors a wide-ranging programme right by the water.

The fishmongers of northern Germany have been bringing the Hamburg Fish Market to Karlsplatz square in Stuttgart for over twenty years now. From 11 to 21 July 2013, visitors can sample fresh fish in every conceivable variety from eels and pike-perch to fried fish and scampi – washed down with an ice-cold Holsten beer, 'Alster water' shandy or Küstennebel liqueur.

As well as delicious Nordic delicacies, the fish market of course brings unique Hamburg characters to Stuttgart such as 'Eel-Dieter' and other larger-than-life individuals – a wonderful opportunity to enjoy Hanseatic humour outside Hamburg. To help bring authentic maritime flair to inland Germany, the culinary delights of the sea are served against a musical backdrop of jazz, shanties and popular port songs.

Picturesque villages, old harbours and fascinating marshland scenery are the hallmarks of the 250-kilometre German Ferries Route. For the tenth anniversary of this popular scenic route, which runs from Kiel to Bremervörde along the Oste and Elbe rivers and the Kiel Canal, there is lots to discover particularly for families and a great combination of nature and culture by the water. Germany's youngest scenic route is already an established feature in the holiday landscape of northern Germany. Whether you're travelling by ferry, bike or on foot, this is a place where you can enjoy idyllic scenery and captivating days out.

The Parkscout Award is voted for by the general public and is therefore considered the most important independent award for the theme park industry. In this year's Parkscout readers' poll, Europa-Park in Rust was nominated in 14 categories and collected 13 of the coveted awards for 2012/2013. Europa-Park, which is hugely popular among the 40,000 or so theme park fans who took part in the survey, took the prize for 'best theme park' and 'best value for money'. According to the poll, visitors also found Europa-Park to have the 'best new theme park attraction' and 'best website'. Thanks to its excellent range of facilities for families with children, the park came second in the 'most child-friendly theme park' category.

The new Magnetic Festival of electronic music took the UNESCO World Heritage Völklingen Ironworks by storm in 2012 and received the prize for 'best new festival' at the European Festival Awards. It aims to bring electronic music back to the Saarland and gets under way for the second year on 6 July 2013. Music from Germany and around the world is supported by video, pyrotechnic and lighting performances, with live acts, DJs, light artists and special effect maestros gathering together at one of the most exciting venues associated with Germany's industrial heritage to inject new life into the electronic music scene.