Prost!: Our guide to Oktoberfest

There will be potato pancakes.

Delaware Saengerbund's three-day Oktoberfest is trying something new in its 38th year: a trial run of offering potato pancakes along with the staples, like the sizzling bratwurst, secret recipe potato salad and frankfurters.

The Ogletown celebration -- the largest and most authentic Oktoberfest in Delaware -- is timed to kick off alongside its much more famous Munich-based counterpart, which launches on Saturday for more than two weeks of hardcore beer drinking and revelry in the heart of Germany.

And as Delaware's Oktoberfest approaches its 40th anniversary, all the traditions that draw 20,000 each year will remain this weekend -- the food, beer, amusement rides and late night cup-stacking.

But there are a few changes this year that eagle-eyed Oktoberfest regulars will spot.

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First up are the aforementioned potato pancakes.

Hans Nafzinger, head organizer of this year's Oktoberfest, says the new side will be offered as a "blackboard special" in the express food line for the first time this year and it will return if it's a success.

Members of the Delaware Saengerbund, a German-American club first founded in the mid-1800s as a singing society by one of Wilmington's first commercial brewers, came up with the potato pancake idea, noting that other German clubs serve the potato pancakes (kartoffelpuffer).

And don't worry if you're a potato pancake fiend and can't make this year's Oktoberfest. There will be plenty of potato pancakes for pillaging at the five-day St. Hedwig Polish Festival in Wilmington, running Monday to Friday, Sept. 24.

Also new at this year's Oktoberfest is a tweak in the festival's ticket system for purchasing beer and food. Instead of selling tickets at 50 cents each, all tickets will be worth $1. Organizers hope it will help streamline purchases and help keep patrons from wrestling with excess tickets. The downside is that some items, like the bratwurst, will now cost $4 instead of $3.50.

"It's like a dollar menu," jokes Nafzinger.

While you may pay a little more for some of the German goodies up for grabs, you'll be paying less if you park at the official remote parking location at Christiana High School (190 Salem Church Road, Ogletown). Parking will cost $5 on Friday and Saturday -- down from $10 last year. Sunday is free.

The fee includes a shuttle ride from the school to the Oktoberfest entrance gate, which is less than a mile away. The proceeds from parking goes back to Christiana High School to help defray prom costs, organizers say. There is also limited parking at 14-acre club site, but that usually fills early.

And there's one final new wrinkle for the tradition-rich weekend: The News Journal will host the first officially-sanctioned cup-stacking competitions on Sunday. After years of drinkers stacking cups into pyramids under the big, white Oktoberfest tent, competitors will be on stage for a timed stacking competition.

Three teams of four will have one minute each to build the tallest cup pyramid with the winners receiving a $50 Wawa gift card. The contests will be held at 1:05 p.m., 2:25 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. Sunday. (To register, e-mail Steve Lenhoff at slenhoff@delawareonline.com. The deadline is Friday, Sept. 16 at 4 p.m.)

In terms of what beer will be filling cups this weekend, three of the six official Munich-based Oktoberfest breweries that meet long-held Bavarian purity requirements will be available, including Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr and Spaten. Spaten's sister beer, Franziskaner, well also flow. This year happens to be the 500th anniversary of Reinheitsgebot, the German beer purity law that regulates beer ingredients and was first instituted in 1516. Other varieties of beer, including imported, domestic and craft brews, will also be available at Oktoberfest.

Kevin Baxter, the Bear-based event promoter and head of the digital marketing company Digital Force, knows all about creating good times. And he has watched Oktoberfest thrive over the years.

"Events grow because of traditions and people having a good time. And this thing just keeps picking up steam. Ever year it gets bigger and bigger," says Baxter, who also worked as a marketing manager for the old Kahunaville in Wilmington. "And I think that's part of the magic of Delaware. People from the bottom of the state to the top come out and support these homegrown events."

While the goal of Oktoberfest is to foster German traditions and provide a good time, there's a bigger reason why Delaware Saengerbund, a 1,000-member private club, puts on the festival each year: survival.

An army of 700 volunteers works each September because the proceeds from Oktoberfest make up about 80 percent of the group's annual operation budget, covering operating costs, capital improvements, college scholarships and more. And that's why they like to keep an eye on the weather forecast, knowing a storm could deliver a punishing blow to their bottom line.

Sunny skies with temperatures in the low 80s are forecast for Friday and Saturday with a chance of light rain late Sunday.

If you attend for the live oom-pah music, a little rain won't hurt because you'll be under the tent. In addition to standbys like Delaware Saengerbund's own house band (Enzian Musikanten) and Bavarian folk dance group (Enzian Volkstanzgruppe), Austrian band Almwind and Virginia-based Heidi und Heimat Echo will also perform throughout the weekend.

As the moment approaches for the gates to open Friday, those hundreds of volunteers will be buzzing on site, staring at a long weekend of work ahead. They will be thanked with a volunteer-only appreciation party later this fall with free food and beer. That's when they really get to party.

But for now, the focus is on filling 20,000 hungry and thirsty merrymakers. And no matter how many years they've done it before, it's always a sight to see when Oktoberfest comes together from the inside, Nafzinger says.

"It's like a huge jigsaw puzzle. There's pieces everywhere, but somehow by Friday afternoon all the pieces are in place," he says. "All these people know what to do and it just happens."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

IF YOU GO

WHAT: The 38th annual Delaware Saengerbund Oktoberfest

WHEN: Friday Sept. 16, 5-11 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 17, noon-11 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 18, noon-6 p.m.

WHERE: Delaware Saengerbund, 49 Salem Church Road, Ogletown

COST: $8 (includes unlimited amusement park rides)

INFORMATION: delawaresaengerbund.org

IF YOU STACK

The News Journal will host a trio of cup-stacking competitions at Oktoberfest Sunday, hosted by reporter Ryan Cormier. Three teams of four will have one minute each to build the tallest cup pyramid with the winners receiving a $50 Wawa gift card. The contests will be held at 1:05 p.m., 2:25 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. To register, e-mail Steve Lenhoff at slenhoff@delawareonline.com. The deadline is Friday, Sept. 16 at 4 p.m.

BAND AND DANCE SCHEDULE

Friday 

5 p.m.-6:45 p.m. -- Enzian Musikanten

7 p.m.-11 p.m. -- Almwind

Saturday

12-1:55 p.m.: Enzian Musikanten

2-6 p.m.: Heidi und Heimat Echo

6 -11 p.m.: Almwind

Sunday

Noon-12:40 p.m.: Enzian Musikanten

1-6 p.m.: Almwind

Note: Enzian Volkstanzgruppe, Delaware Saengerbund's own folk dance group, will perform Friday (8:30 p.m.), Saturday (12:45 p.m., 2 p.m., 4:05 p.m., 6:50 p.m. and 8 p.m.) and Sunday (12:45 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3:50 p.m.)

MENU

Here is a sampling of what foods will be sold this year:

Roast pig platter (Saturday and Sunday only): $10

Oktoberfest platter (Choose your own 'wurst plus two sides): $8

Landjäger (German sausage/meat sticks): $5

Bratwurst (pork sausage): $4

Weisswurst (veal sausage): $4

Bauernwurst (beef and pork farmer's sausage): $4

Hot sausage: $4

Rollmops (pickled herring): $4

Potato pancake $3

Barbecue chicken breast: $3

German frankfurter: $3

Ham and cheese sandwich: $3

Hot dog: $2

Sauerkraut: $2

German potato salad: $2

Pretzels: $1

Funnel cake: $1

PARKING

Remote parking will be offered at Christiana High School (190 Salem Church Road, Ogletown). Parking costs $5 on Friday and Saturday and is free Sunday. The fee includes a shuttle ride from the school to the Oktoberfest entrance gate, which is less than a mile away.