BY Jessica Heitzman
SC Staff Writer
Millions of people celebrate Oktoberfest, a huge festival held in Munich, Germany where people eat, drink and be merry. Unfortunately, not everyone can go to such a joyous event, so why not bring the Oktoberfest to them?
That’s exactly what Arts Quest did at the Bethlehem Steel Stacks for the past two weeks. Their Oktoberfest ran from Oct. 5–7 and Oct. 12–14.
What would a festival be without food? Nothing. Arts Quest provided authentic German food, from soups to entire main entrees to desert.
The potato pancakes were the most popular. The cooks had to keep telling customers they had to wait another five minutes while more were being made.
Not only were the potato pancakes flying, but so were the apple dumplings provided by Bethlehem Dairy Store and various flavors of strudel provided by Heidi’s Strudel.
Yuengling hosted a brilliant concoction made of Yuengling Oktoberfest beer and vanilla ice cream. The Yuengling Milkshakes were, “Not bad actually,” said Joe Assise of Easton. “It gets much better the more you drink it.”
Overall the food is definitely what one would expect when hoping to eat delicious German food.
The music varied with each day. The Yuengling Festhalle tent provided the majority of polka music from numerous bands like Fritz’s Polka Band, The Adlers and Apple Strudel Gang. But polka wasn’t the only genre taking stage. Other performances included alternative rock bands like Emily’s Toy Box, Lovebettie and the Billy Bauer Band.
Oktoberfest never experienced a dull moment with its 46 bands.
Oktoberfest isn’t just for the adults. Kids were entertained with rides like a Ferris wheel and a merry-go-round. They also got to play Twister and throw ping pong balls for goldfish.
Adults participated in stein races, where a competitor races against the clock to carry six mugs filled with beer from one table to another, then back again without spilling beer but in a timely manner.
Another popular Oktoberfest activity is barrel racing. What’s so fun about barrel racing? It’s quite hilarious when players have had a little too much to drink and can barely keep their balance as it is. Now, they are expected to roll an empty keg with a teammate.
Oktoberfest provided much to do over the two-week span. And if anyone left Oktoberfest bored, there’s always next year.
Email Jessica at:
jmh2643@live.esu.edu
