Oktoberfest

Son Sneed and I were driving in the car this afternoon, enjoying one of the many fine hit songs by the group Abba, when I caught sight of a sign promoting something called Oktoberfest. I wondered to myself, what is this Oktoberfest and why is it misspelled?

No sooner had the thought entered my mind, than a commercial came on the radio inviting listeners to Oktoberfest being held at one of our municipal ball stadiums. The festivities of Oktoberfest are being held here in our fair city September 27 through September 30.

I thought I had misunderstood the dates, because if the Oktoberfest is being held September 27th to the 30th, it should be called Septemberfest. Don't you think? At the end of the message the announcer gave the dates again. They are in September. That's odd, I thought.

When I got home I decided that I better check out Oktoberfest on the internet. It turns out that the first Oktoberfest was held in someplace called Bavaria in 1810. Many people think the the Germans started Oktoberfest, but it was actually an extinct group of people called the Bavarianites. It wasn't until years later that the Germans co-opted the idea. The Germans improved upon Oktoberfest by making people wear leather shorts with suspenders known as lederhosen.

Oktoberfest began when fellow named Price Ludwig was marrying a Teresa something or other in Bavaria. He was so thrilled to be getting married that he decided to hold a horse race. Since this was prior to the invention of the mint julep, they drank beer. Later they dropped the horse race altogether and concentrated on the beer drinking.

The first Oktoberfest was in fact held in October. The sign maker Ludwig hired was drunk and misspelled October, hence Oktoberfest. No sense in tossing out a perfectly good sign, thought Ludwig. The Bavarianites were famously frugal.

Prince Ludwig became King Ludwig and since kings don't have real jobs and have a lot of free time, Ludwig lengthened Oktoberfest by starting it in September. They actually toyed with the idea of changing the name to Septemberfest, but again, they already had a sign.

The celebration has spread far and wide, with every major city, except Salt Lake, having an Oktoberfest celebration. Salt Lake has a festival called near-Oktoberfest, when instead of beer, they enjoy root beer. Who knew? Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints hold that the angel Moroni gave Joseph Smith the formulation for root beer along with the golden tablets. At least that's what someone told me.

So, look for an Oktoberfest in your city. If you don't find one contact your municipal government and let them know you are interested in having an Oktoberfest at a venue near you. Be sure to specify that you want actual beer.

Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky