For three evenings this coming weekend, Port Moody will become a suburb of Munich.
The organizers of PoMo's third annual Oktoberfest, which runs from Oct. 5 to 7, say while they can’t hope to replicate the Bavarian capital’s massive seasonal celebration of beer and good times that attracts almost seven million revellers from around the world, their event does attempt to capture the spirit and flavours of smaller, more intimate festivals that begin in late summer in Munich’s outskirts leading up to the big blowout.
The German word for it is gemütlichkeit (pronounced ge-mootlik-kite).
And Fred and Erika Ledlin said no detail is too small to ensure their event, to be held in tents erected on the tennis courts behind Port Moody city hall, has it in spades — and lederhosen.
That includes wooden tables and benches crafted in Austria to encourage everyone to get cozy with their neighbours, pallets of decorations like flags, banners and coasters shipped over from Munich, and 120 kegs of Hacker-Pschorr and Paulaner beer.
“It’s like they’re in Munich,” said Fred Ledlin, who attended several Oktoberfest celebrations when he played professional hockey in Germany from 1987 to 2001. “We’re just 6,800,000 guests short.”
Ledlin said this year’s event will be adult-oriented, with the tent that used to have space for kids games and activities now given over to more room for beer-fuelled revelry. A couple of authentic German oompah bands, as well as a DJ, will provide the party’s soundtrack from 5 to10 p.m. each evening. Also on the agenda is a kind of zany take on the traditional Miss Oktoberfest contest in which entrants will be judged on events like the chicken dance, beer stein holding and hands-free sausage eating.
Ledlin said while it all may sound a little debauched, Oktoberfest is really about bringing people together.
“It’s a real sense of fun and community,” he said. “It’s a nice vibe.”
• For more information about Port Moody’s Oktoberfest celebration, including a link to purchases tickets online, go to www.oktoberfestbc.ca.
