Just a heads up & Happy German Fest!

Wednesdays post is running behind schedule. I have twenty three articles, ten stories, that I am working on to fit into three to five posts. I have already crashed my browser twice. And I have to go babysit for a few hours so I will be away, and the posts wont be done until tomorrow evening.

But alas you probably don't care because as of eleven this morning the keg has been tapped open @ Head Waters Park for the 27th annual German Fest!

When: Today through June 8
Where: Various locations, most activities happen in Head Waters Park Admission: Free for most events.
Hours of Operation:
11 a.m. to midnight Wednesday and Thursday,
11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
Admission to the pavilion is free before 2 p.m.,
$2 after 2 p.m. and $5 after 5 p.m.
The pavilion becomes 21-and-older after 9:30 p.m.
For more information, go to www.germanfest.org.

Beer, brats, bodices on tap for festival
By Steve Penhollow

It is time again for Germanfest:

Our 27th annual Germanfest starts today, [...4ip...] “In Munich beer has been the preferred beverage since the Middle Ages,” says Ruth Reichmann, president of the Indiana German Heritage Society and adjunct assistant professor and director of the Max Kade German-American Center of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. “It was first brewed in the monasteries during those times when the drinking water was oftentimes a source of illness and even the plague. Beer and wine were safe sources of liquid. "However, wine was never very popular in the Alpine regions. It was not grown there. Grains and malt are readily available in the Alpine areas.”

Sibling Bavarian breweries Köstritzer and Bitburger will be well represented at Germanfest again. A new Köstritzer Night will happen at Club Soda, 235 E. Superior St., starting at 7 p.m. Monday. Germanfest marketing director Bob Anweiler says organizers needed to set aside a special night to celebrate “the black beer with the blonde soul.”

Of course, Germanfest isn’t just about beer, [...] A special bratwurst prepared by Heyerly’s Meat Market in South Whitley will be cooked up by Club Soda on Monday. It’s called Thüringer Rostbratwurst, and with an imposing name like that it may be the first sausage to come with steamship stacks. It won’t be available under the pavilion at Headwaters; the only place you can taste it is at Club Soda.

Less menacing brats will be multitudinously chomped at Headwaters, as will sauerkraut, German potato salad, kuchen (cake), pretzels and Landjäger, which Anweiler describes as “German beef jerky.” [...] “There are approximately 50 different kinds of potato salad which came from German-speaking areas to the U.S.,” Reichmann says. “Each area has its own specialty.”

There’ll be music and dancing at Germanfest, of course, and perhaps someone will start Schuhplattling, a dance inspired by the mating rituals of large grouses. [...] The chicken dance is based on duck movements! “It is actually called Ententanz,” Reichmann says. “Duck dance in Germany. If you observe the movements, you will notice that they do not fit the movements of chicken.”

You can avoid all poultry-prompted spats by participating in “Polka Like a Star” on Friday night – a reality-show-inspired competition that is also inspired by a Central European dance often danced by dancers wearing traditional central European garb. You may see men in lederhosen (leather short trousers) at Germanfest and women in dirndl (Alpine peasant dresses). [...] So we shall conclude with family activities: The wiener dog races and Kidsfest will happen Saturday at Headwaters.

See you all tomorrow, or at the rate we all get down with Polka in the Summit City, next week!!