Local Club Returns To Celebrate Octoberfest

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As the Bavarian Club wraps up their Octoberfest, another group is ready to pick up the slack.

After missing last year’s event, The Teutonia Club is back in action. With their first Octoberfest celebration taking place over 45-years-ago, they also know how to throw a good party.

Due to the closure of their facility, the event will take place at the Fogolar Furlan Club (located at 1800 North Service Road) on Sunday, October 22. Although estimating attendance is difficult, numbers from previous years don’t lie.

“Our first Oktoberfest was held in 1971,” said Teutonia Club treasurer, Ann Boies. “Back then we would have anywhere from 5,000 to 8,000 people attending our weekend event. As time passed, the attendance would be 3,000-5,000.”

Such a large undertaking takes a lot of time to get right: Planning starts four to six months in advance with bands being booked up to a year beforehand. Youth group Dancers also practice all year and perform at different functions in other venues. Other groups are invited to perform to compliment the festival atmosphere as well.

This isn’t the only role the youth group serves at the event either. Along with Teutonia club members, those involved volunteer their time to serve Octoberfest guests. Fogolar Furlan kitchen staff also teams-up with those putting on the event to ensure an authentic taste and experience.

This includes German food like schnitzel, sausage, potato salad, and goulash soup. Traditional pretzels baked on the spot and Erdinger Weissbier will also be available. The German dance group is set to perform in the afternoon.

Along with bringing the community together, these details are taken very seriously by organizers.

“Our members feel great pride in sharing our culture and festival with the public,” said Boies. “We always have designated Sunday as Family Day where we do not charge an admission fee to bring families together and help us celebrate this festival. We say the word ‘gemutlichkeit’ in our celebration and our Cheer, which means comfort and coziness. This is what we want to share with the community.”

Doors open at 11:30pm and the admission-free event runs until 8pm. Music by the Hetzel band will take place from 4pm until things finish up.