Nova Hartz brings together cultural traditions, a local potato specialty, half-timbered architecture, and a natural landscape of hills, waterfalls and forests. These features offer different ways to plan your trip: choosing dates around an event, exploring local cuisine and architecture, or making the landscape part of your destination experience. Information about culture and outdoor activities ranges from long-standing traditions to a specifically dated hike and a route handed over in 2026.
Cultural Events and Traditions
The Decemberfest is one of the municipality of Nova Hartz’s longest-running cultural events and celebrates its Germanic roots. In its report of November 28, 2025, the municipal government also included the festival in the 2026 events calendar. The program includes music, food, sports and activities for the whole family. If you want to plan your trip around the Decemberfest, check the dates for your chosen year before booking a hotel.
The arrival of the Chama Crioula is also a long-standing tradition in Nova Hartz. While the Decemberfest brings together different types of activities, this tradition focuses on the arrival itself. These offer two distinct cultural points of interest for planning a trip.
Hiking and Outdoor Activities
The first Trilha do Mirante took place on April 28, 2024: a 10-kilometer hike that began and ended on the Schnorr family’s property in Alto Arroio da Bica, Nova Hartz. The route offered panoramic views of Nova Hartz and neighboring cities. The distance and start and finish points refer to this first edition.
A new running and walking route on Avenida IrmĂŁos Hartz was handed over to the municipality on August 24, 2026. As facilities may change, check the current conditions of use before visiting. Nova Hartz therefore offers different outdoor activity options: a dated, ten-kilometer hike with panoramic views and a route handed over to the municipality for running and walking.
Cuisine and Architecture
The traditional Bolinho de Batata is considered a symbol of Nova Hartz’s cuisine. The Festival do Bolinho de Batata e Sabores da Colônia also offers a culinary point of interest: a municipal report dated July 7, 2026, describes a two-day edition featuring typical foods. Together, a specific local dish and a festival with a broader focus on food offer two different ways to explore the municipality’s cuisine.
The Casa Colonial AlemĂŁ adds an architectural highlight. Located on Rua da Bica, it has a wooden half-timbered structure. For travelers interested in architecture, it complements the culinary and cultural themes with a specific architectural point of interest. The street address locates this named house within Nova Hartz.
The Natural Landscape as a Travel Theme
Nova Hartz is characterized by a natural landscape of hills, waterfalls and forests. These features give the destination an independent connection to nature, alongside its festivals, cuisine and architecture. If nature is a priority when choosing a trip, you can take the landscape into account as part of the destination’s character; the Trilha do Mirante provides a dated hiking option with panoramic views of the municipality and neighboring cities.
Discover more destinations: Barreto, Várzea Do Cedro, Xangri-Lá, Canela, Venâncio Aires, Campo Bom, Torres, Lagoa Vermelha.
For the broader travel overview: Rio Grande Do Sul.
