I'm not going to lie. I was disappointed in Oktoberfest. Unbelievably disappointed. I had been looking forward to it for weeks, literally. I imagined crisp autumn air, leaves changing colors in the sunshine and the streets of a small German town teeming with visitors shopping, eating, drinking, dancing.
Instead, much to my dismay, the one and only real booth outside was the Hermann Lions Club, who couldn't even get three brats cooked all at the same time to sell to multiple customers. This was the art walk weekend, but the art was not on the street; it was the usual art that can be found in the shops on most days in Hermann. Plus, you'd think that a town and festival known for drinking would have drink specials...not so much...and you had to go into all the little restaurants and pubs to figure out what was available.
The only redeeming part of the festival was the Hermannhof Festhalle, a beautiful old stone and wood hall with a stage and a dance floor. An ompa band was playing German music for the afternoon. Visitors and costumed locals whirled around the floor to the polkas the band played. It was like Lawrence Welk on steroids!
At one point the bandleader stopped the band, and all the costumed men came down to join the women for some traditional dances, including a dance about sausages which you can see in the photo. The group is called the Rhineland Wurstjaegers and has been around for nearly 60 years. The sausage dance dates back to the Faschnacht celebration, the night before Lent began, that was held in Rhineland, a neighboring town of Hermann, when the townspeople did their own butchering. During the butchering time, a large sausage was made specifically for the dancers. The men would go from door to door and ask for sausage in song. They hung the sausages on a pole and sang and danced through the streets. The men would end up at the town hall where the women cooked the sausage and their favorite German dishes for a big community supper. After supper everyone danced German dances until midnight when the festivities ceased because no dancing was permitted during Lent. The dancers also fasted during the Lenten season.
We stopped by the
Tin Mill Brewing Company and shared a beer on their terrace. Jason spied on people drinking on Hermannhof's hill before an old friend found us. Lucas used to work at Wal-Mart, but now he is a chef at
Jina Yoo's in Columbia.
We left the festival pretty early so we caught the new Michael Moore film,
Capitalism: A Love Story, which I would recommend. While I didn't agree with the entire film, Moore did make a few good points and seemed to be pretty politically unbiased where he laid the blame. We also went to the Ragtag to see
It Might Get Loud, a film about three musicians, Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page. It's their biographies, musical experiences, hopes, dreams, ideas. I only knew of Jack White from the White Stripes, but it was really interesting. Another must-see.
And finally, I must mention our hospitable hosts for the weekend. We stayed at the Hotel de Maurer. There was much gaming of the board and video variety, plus some eating and fish watching on the side. We had a great time. Thank you!
For more photos, click
here.
