Tools

Oktoberfest Celebration Hits the Streets of Grand Junction

by KREX News Room
by Amanda Brandeis

Story Created: Oct 6, 2012 at 11:27 PM MDT

Story Updated: Oct 7, 2012 at 9:38 PM MDT

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.- Oktoberfest is a longstanding German tradition, one that has since made its way over to America and to the streets of Grand Junction. Hosted by the German American Club, the event featured the culture's festive food, music, dance and more.

Ralph Wahlers, a German teacher at Grand Junction High School, said, "Oktoberfest goes back to a royal marriage in Bavaria. It was such a hit that the residents of Munich decided to redo it, and when they started redoing it, they never stopped doing it."

There are several traditions at the event, giving folks a taste of German culture.

"Bratwurst, bierock, those are of course the food staples, and of course the beer tent; you couldn't have Oktoberfest without the beer tent," said Wahlers.

Keith Seymour, a visitor from Louisville, Ky., said, "Of course, if you go to Oktoberfest you've got to do the brats; that's just the only thing to do."

Grand Junction local Don Campbell said, "That's the real reason you come down here for, is to have a beer, have a bratwurst and celebrate a German tradition."

Some of the proceeds from Oktoberfest go toward local students.

"The profit we get from this goes to feed our German programs at the high school," Wahlers said.

Wahlers said, "Each of the German language programs in the Grand Valley has a partner school overseas in Germany. We go every two years to that school, and they come here every two years."

For those who didn't want to travel to Germany for Oktoberfest, downtown Grand Junction served as a great substitute.


You have indicated this comment should be removed.

Close

The comment has been submitted for review. Thank you .

disappointed said on Monday, Oct 8 at 9:29 AM

Oktoberfest is getting worse and worse every year. It never should have been moved from Main St and the lack of vendors this year was horrible. It wasn't even worth the time it took to find a parking spot. Everybody used to look forward to this every year and now we plan on saving our money to go someplace that does it right. Somebody needs to get it together and make this a fun event again.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

KREX - News, Weather, Sports for Grand Junction | Montrose | Glenwood Springs - Coverage You Can Count On and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

Most Popular
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
News Channel 5 Weather