Our guide to the 2018 Delaware Oktoberfest, which starts Friday
The Delaware Saengerbund Oktoberfest brings German fare and culture to Delaware from Friday, Sept. 21, through Sunday, Sept. 23.
Here’s our insiders’ guide to the 40th annual festival:
INFORMATION: The festival runs 5-11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21; noon-11 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22; and noon-6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 23, with bars closing an hour earlier at the Delaware Saengerbund, 49 Salem Church Road, near Newark. The $9 admission includes unlimited amusement rides. Midway games are extra.
Recommended parking at Christiana High School is $5 on Friday and Saturday, free on Sunday and includes the shuttle to and from the festival. Uber and Lyft must drop off and pick up from Christiana High, the festival notes on www.delawaresaengerbund.org/v5_Oktoberfest.shtml. Volunteer and handicapped-accessible parking is available on site.
BENEFITTING: The festival supports German language classes, German study scholarships, entertainment and facility maintenance.
ES BEGANN IM JAHR 1810: Oktoberfest began with festivities for the 1810 marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. Over the years, horse races, agricultural fairs, performances, carnival rides and sideshows were added to festive food and drink.
The celebration was pushed into September for nicer weather. The Saengerbund’s Oktoberfest started in 1978 as a private party for the 125th anniversary of the group, and the public was invited the next year.
PARADE: The opening parade, at 7 p.m. Friday, features the Muenchner Kindl, a child dressed in brown monk’s garb with golden stripes, resembling the Benedictine order, which founded Munich.
ESSEN: The 20,000 hungry visitors gobble up 25,000 sausages in seven kinds, plus lots of chicken, pig roasts and marinated herring called rollmops, accompanied by sauerkraut and German (natürlich) potato salad. They start making 4,000 pounds of potato salad at 4 a.m. daily, and Saengerbund president Carl Renner revealed that fresh parsley is one of the secret ingredients.
TRINKEN: Beer, of course, is the featured drink. “A beer for every taste,” Renner said, noting there are more choices in Delaware than at a tent in a Munich Oktoberfest. “It’s not considered a drink over there. It’s considered a food. Bavarians call it ‘liquid bread.’ Since medieval times [with iffy water supplies] it’s been an important source of safe hydration.” Two words to know when you’re drinking: Prost (cheers) and prosit (a toast), according to festival chairman Hans Nafzinger.
MUSIK UND TANZ: The Enzian Musikanten, the Saengerbund’s Haus Band, opens the festival each day. The Enzian Volkstanzgruppe, its Bavarian dance group, performs off and on in traditional attire: buckskin lederhosen for men and multipart dirndls for women. Almwind plays German music Friday and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Heidi und Heimat Echo plays Saturday afternoon.
SOUVENIRS: Oktoberfest items include mugs, glassware, T-shirts, hats and accessories.
GEMÜTLICHKEIT: This word often describes the Oktoberfest ambience. Renner called it “a sense of happiness, featuring good drink, good food and good music.” Nafzinger simply called it “a good life."
More
UD grad killed biking overseas.
Bardea restaurant in Wilmington opens this week
Ken Mammarella is a Wilmington freelance writer.