German Oktoberfest will also open to Jakartans
German Oktoberfest will also open to Jakartans
JAKARTA (JP): On Sept. 29, Jakartans, Germans and Bavarians,
and other communities that know the excitement of an Oktoberfest
will be celebrating the event in a truly hurly-burly manner,
right in the center of this city.
For most Germans and Bavarians living in Indonesia, it will be
a sentimental journey back to their first visit to the meadows
where the Oktoberfest was held -- carried high up on their
fathers' shoulders for a better view of the festzelt.
What's the Oktoberfest all about?
Even though it is cursed and criticized by some, the
Oktoberfest, which is a beer festival held in Munich at the end
of September, to put it in a nutshell, attracts approximately
eight million people every year, and they love every minute of
it. None of them get exhausted even though festivities last for
16 days.
Despite the many "ifs and buts", nobody can deny that the
Oktoberfest has a certain charm and fascination, which gets under
people's skin.
Whatever it is, every year thousands of foreign guests descend
on Munich for the 16-day event, which the French call la fete de
la biere and the Americans the Oktoberfest. The people of Munich
say simply d'Wies'n, which means the meadows, an abbreviation of
Theresienwiese, named after Princess Therese von Sachsen-
Hidburhausen.
In 1810 the Oktoberfest came into being, thanks to a smart
cabbie. Or rather, it came into being again, because in the
meadows where the Oktoberfest was to find its home, there had
been the centuries-old tradition of a horse race.
The race was called the Red Race because the first prize was a
scarlet scarf. A cabdriver named Franz Baumgartner, who was also
a noncommissioned officer in the Bavarian National Guard,
suggested celebrating the marriage of Princess Therese von
Sachsen-Hildburghausen to the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig (later
King Ludwig I) with a horse race, and that's how it all started.
Next week, the Hotel Aryaduta Jakarta will host an
Oktoberfest, with the promise of loads of authentic food prepared
under the supervision of resident German chefs, Oliver Kreutz and
Ingo Maass. There will be sumptuous cooking stations, barrels of
beer, music provided by The Bauer Band, specially flown in from
Munich just for the occasion, and unrestrained merrymaking.
In the past years, the Aryaduta celebrated the Oktoberfest
with their corporate clients only.
"This year," says General Manager Manfred Kalcher, "we will
also open our doors to the Indonesian community and our German
and German-speaking friends."
This means that you too can go to this year's Oktoberfest,
dressed in traditional Bavarian outfits. If you are not the
daring type, just play it safe and dress smart casual, and no one
will raise an eyebrow when you make an entrance at the Panti
Surya Ballroom, where the party is being held.
-- Marianne Pereira
JAKARTA (JP): On Sept. 29, Jakartans, Germans and Bavarians,
and other communities that know the excitement of an Oktoberfest
will be celebrating the event in a truly hurly-burly manner,
right in the center of this city.
For most Germans and Bavarians living in Indonesia, it will be
a sentimental journey back to their first visit to the meadows
where the Oktoberfest was held -- carried high up on their
fathers' shoulders for a better view of the festzelt.
What's the Oktoberfest all about?
Even though it is cursed and criticized by some, the
Oktoberfest, which is a beer festival held in Munich at the end
of September, to put it in a nutshell, attracts approximately
eight million people every year, and they love every minute of
it. None of them get exhausted even though festivities last for
16 days.
Despite the many "ifs and buts", nobody can deny that the
Oktoberfest has a certain charm and fascination, which gets under
people's skin.
Whatever it is, every year thousands of foreign guests descend
on Munich for the 16-day event, which the French call la fete de
la biere and the Americans the Oktoberfest. The people of Munich
say simply d'Wies'n, which means the meadows, an abbreviation of
Theresienwiese, named after Princess Therese von Sachsen-
Hidburhausen.
In 1810 the Oktoberfest came into being, thanks to a smart
cabbie. Or rather, it came into being again, because in the
meadows where the Oktoberfest was to find its home, there had
been the centuries-old tradition of a horse race.
The race was called the Red Race because the first prize was a
scarlet scarf. A cabdriver named Franz Baumgartner, who was also
a noncommissioned officer in the Bavarian National Guard,
suggested celebrating the marriage of Princess Therese von
Sachsen-Hildburghausen to the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig (later
King Ludwig I) with a horse race, and that's how it all started.
Next week, the Hotel Aryaduta Jakarta will host an
Oktoberfest, with the promise of loads of authentic food prepared
under the supervision of resident German chefs, Oliver Kreutz and
Ingo Maass. There will be sumptuous cooking stations, barrels of
beer, music provided by The Bauer Band, specially flown in from
Munich just for the occasion, and unrestrained merrymaking.
In the past years, the Aryaduta celebrated the Oktoberfest
with their corporate clients only.
"This year," says General Manager Manfred Kalcher, "we will
also open our doors to the Indonesian community and our German
and German-speaking friends."
This means that you too can go to this year's Oktoberfest,
dressed in traditional Bavarian outfits. If you are not the
daring type, just play it safe and dress smart casual, and no one
will raise an eyebrow when you make an entrance at the Panti
Surya Ballroom, where the party is being held.
-- Marianne Pereira