Host an Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest originated back in Munich in the early 1800's as a celebration of a royal wedding. The event (season) lasts from the third weekend of September through the first sunday of Oktober. I created this lens as a guide to hosting this fun annual festival. There are some things you need to consider when hosting the party:

 1. Location - The autumn event is best served outdoors and usually it might be prudent to buy or rent a small tent. The coverability of the tent protects you and your guests from uninvited nasty elements. Soggy guests will then head inside your house and you will lose that Oktoberfest feeling.

2.  Food - The theme is Oktoberfest so you better stick to german cuisine. And whatever you make, please make sure to make PLENTY. Oktoberfest is a one day pass for gluttony, and people love to endulge in this food. For appetizers, offer your guests some sausage and cheese trays and maybe some hot pretzels with mustard. For the main meal, I always start the menu with bratwurst and add some extra sausages like knockwurst and frankfurters (for the kids). If you really know your german cuisine, you might want to test your skills and add weinerschnitzel or sauerbraten. Adding the last two items may overcomplicate your party. It all depends on how much time and effort you want to allocate to the menu portion of the party.

    Side dishes will include warm german potato salad and dumplings. Additional must have side dishes include sauerkraut and sweet red cabbage.

Dessert will include black forest cake or the traditional german chocolate cake.

For additional recipes please visit:

 http://www.germanfoods.org/consumer/OktoberfestRecipeMenu.cfm

4.  Beer. This one is easy. Pick a german pilsner (Warsteiner, DAB, Becks, etc), and buy based on the size of your guest list. Smaller size groups under 20 and you can probably get by with cans or bottles. Larger size groups might necessitate buying beer in a keg. I found this amusing weblink of calculating your guest beer consumption and how much you should purchase:

http://www.kegulator.com/

For the kids, make sure to offer them up some cold root beer.

5.  Entertainment.  The entertainment can vary based on your Oktoberfest budget. The best entertainment you can offer would be to hire an Oompah band. However if you do not want to go this extreme, it might be wise to pick up some Oktoberfest CD's. Some of these CD's offer up the Oompah version of the "chicken dance". These wedding dances are always good for some laughs.

Additional entertainment and games can be found:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Oktoberfest-Party-Games---Raise-Your-Glasses,-Everyone!&id=547643

In addition to some of these Autumn party tips, you will want to make sure you get your invitations out early and try to stick to the theme. I wish you luck with your Oktoberfest party.

Prost! (Cheers)