Called "Wiesn" (which means "meadow") by local Bavarians, the German tradition of Oktoberfest started with a wedding party in October of 1810. The wedding was that of Crown Prince Ludwig (later known as King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen, who graciously invited the citizens of Munich to join in the wedding reception celebration at Theresienwiese (Meadow of Therese). It was a rousing success, lasting an impressive 16 days, and inspired the idea to repeat a similar festival at the same time the following year.
And now, even in India....
On Saturday, 27 October at the Taj Residency in Bangalore, hosted by the 'Octoberfest Committee', German Cultural Society and their sponsors.
After a couple of months of negotiating, the president of the German Cultural Society agreed to sell me 60 tickets at their corporate rate, which we sold at the public rate of Rs.1000 per person for unlimited beer and food (Yep, they even had some German sausages). This allowed the OWC to raise funds for the 25 Bangalore based charities that we support....with hardly any effort or organisation from our part. I just had to design the ad/announcements for our monthly magazine (The Rangoli) and the e-mailers, manage RSVP's and sell tickets to the event.
Me with the organizers - Mr. Suman Sharma (Taj) and Mr. Haldar (German Cultural Society)
Then it was......
"Ein Prosten, Ein Prosten Gemuchlichkeit, Ein Prosten, Ein Prosten Gemuchlichkeit ...Eins Zwei Drei Zuffe!"
It was a great turn out with approximately 900 guests. The ballroom was decorated in true Octoberfest style: Benches and tressel tables with blue and white table cloths with the same and balloons all around the hall. Unfortunately they only had Kingfisher beer but everything else was as authentically German as it could get in India.
A 20 piece Bavarian Umpa band especially flown in for the occation.
You know it's a good party when people start dancing on the cheers...and when they start dancing on the tables; well, "PROOOOOOOOST"!
Marc enjoying the festivities....Ok, so he is wishing it's a good German beer in his hands ;-)
Many of the German Guests (I didn't realise there are so many in Bangalore) came dressed in 'Lederhosen' and 'Dirndl' which made the evening feel even more like the real thing.
We had a blast and will definitely be at the next one and hopefully the "REAL" one in Munich too!!
1 comment:
Why Unfortunately Kingfisher?
I thought the beer rocked.. was one of the best ales ive had over the continents.
Post a Comment