Oktoberfest

This favorite German fall festival has become a prominent celebration in America as communities large and small take part in Oktoberfest. One reason for the choice of fall for the beer drinking occasion is that this is when breweries clean out the bottom of the vats and use this thick brew to bottle dark beer varieties. These have limited availability and true dark beers are prized for their full bodied flavor.

Bratwurst or cheddarwurst served with specialty mustards on Kaiser Rolls topped with sauerkraut and accompanied by German potato salad are as good as it gets. Deserts of cream puffs or kuchen fill out the fall feast enjoyed best outdoors in the crisp air. This as well as other sausages and treats warm hearts in beer gardens across the country.

Communities which have adopted this festival find that Oktoberfest is one of the most popular. Ethnic bands and small carnivals round out the activities and allow fun for all ages. These are very successful at enticing shoppers downtown at the beginning of the busy retail season. These activities bring in shoppers at about the time that stores are heavily stocked with back-to-school, Halloween and in some cases Christmas merchandise. This insures that the municipality derives a good return on its festival dollar investment. Participants are also very fond of these festivals.

There's no reason to miss out on the fun if one of these festivals is not locally available. An Oktoberfest party is a perfectly nice way to celebrate the natural beauty of fall. Discount stores stock the German foods and imported beers that make this celebration unique. Online stores and specialty catalogues can deliver these foods to almost any location when they can't be found locally. Use lots of Oktoberfest paper party goods for decoration and quick clean-up after the party ends.