Towns across Kansas will celebrate a Bavarian tradition of beer, food, music, and family fun
Prosit! to stein hoists, Bavarian bier, and schnitzel at Oktoberfests this fall in several Kansas towns. And staggered dates from September to October allow guests to attend multiple celebrations across the state.
Abilene
In Abilene, the annual Oktoberfest tribute to Bavarian drinks and culture highlights German foods, music, dancing, games and merriment in the city’s Little Ike Park. Organizer Hanna Nagely took over the reins from her mother, Heidi Anderson, who grew up in Germany and launched the festival in 2017 to keep her German mother’s beloved traditions alive and shared with others.
Much of the September 20–21 Abilene event emulates Munich’s Oktoberfest, including being held in September on the opening weekend of the 16-day-long festival in Germany. In Abilene, Friday night is the pre-party, with music, dancing, German food, and vendors; on Saturday, festivities begin at 9 a.m. with numerous activities throughout the day.
In a departure from tradition, Abilene holds its keg-tapping ceremony not at the morning start of the festival but later in the day.
“We tap the keg at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, the mayor or another city official gets the first taste, and we toast the party,” Nagely says. “That’s my favorite time at the festival.”
The star attraction is the Blautaler Verein Schuhplattler group from Kansas City. Dressed in authentic attire, they showcase numerous traditional German folk dances throughout the day. Their focus is the schuhplattler style of dance, which originated in Alpine villages hundreds of years ago and is characterized by men hopping, stomping, and slapping their shoes and the sides of their lederhosen. Jim Miller, the vorplatter, or dance instructor, leads the performances and provides insights into each dance’s origins and significance. Miller encourages audience participation and educates the audience on German attire and customs, such as singing “Ein Prozet” at the top of every hour and the Goaßlschnalzen or rhythmic whip cracking he performs.
German contests on Saturday include Masskrugstemmen or stein hoisting, in which a full stein of beer is held with one completely outstretched arm parallel to the floor for as long as possible (children hold up glasses of root beer), and Hammerschlagen, a game in which participants compete to drive nails into a wooden beam. The keg rolling competition involves teams rolling half-filled kegs through an obstacle course to the finish line. And because legend has it that cornhole, in which bags of corn are thrown through a hole in a wooden board, was invented in Germany in the 14th century, there’s a cornhole tournament.
“In Germany, there’s usually a carnival, so we have a kids’ section we have expanded to have eight or nine bounce houses this year and a barrel train,” Nagely says. “There are things going on all day long for everyone, for all ages. It’s a family-friendly, free event.”
And, of course, there is beer. Servers dressed in traditional dirndls (dresses) pour beer into souvenir steins. Nagely says the beer on tap for the festival will be from the Paulaner Brewery in Munich, which also provides beer for the event in Germany.
“We are going to have a beer-tasting tent provided by the Walnut River Brewing Company in El Dorado,” says Nagely, adding the festival expands every year with new activities. “We also are creating our own Abilene Oktoberfest beer this year, a Dunkel and a Weizenbock.”
Schnitzel, bratwurst, bierocks, currywurst and American foods fill vendors’ menus, with diners seated family-style at long rows of tables covered in checked tablecloths.
“When you are at Oktoberfest, it’s an atmosphere of friendliness and camaraderie,” Nagely says. “You come together as a community and have a great time.”
abileneoktoberfest.com | facebook.com/abileneoktoberfest
Hays
Oktoberfest began in Hays over 50 years ago, not as a Bavarian tradition but to preserve and honor the history of the Volga German immigrants who founded several small villages near Hays and around Ellis County.
“They came over from the Volga Valley in Russia and settled here because the landscape and climate in this region were the closest to what was in the Volga Valley,” says Emily Knowles, the city’s Oktoberfest director. “Their descendants started Oktoberfest, and then it transformed and morphed into this event that we have now.”
This year’s free festival, October 4–5, opens with an actor portraying Russian czarina Catherine the Great telling a story about her former subjects leaving the Volga Valley for Ellis County. Then, as tradition dictates, the keg is tapped, the German song “Ein Prozit” is sung, and a bell is rung to signal that beer may now be served.
Three bands, at least one of which plays German polkas, perform daily. Hays Community Theatre members also come in costume, dance and interact with people. Guests can compete in a stein-holding contest and the Deutsch Hops Contest, which Knowles describes as “an obstacle course where they run with a full beer, and whoever has the most beer in the cup wins the big prize.” Other activities include Highstriker, or Hau-den-Lukas, which tests the strength of a contestant who swings a hammer with enough force to raise a lever to ring the bell at the top of the tower. There’s also a mug-toss contest and a beer puppeteer challenge that requires using puppet strings to maneuver a cup of beer to the mouth without spilling a drop, she says.
On Saturday, events become more family-focused. There is a cornhole tournament and the children’s area opens with games such as a pumpkin roll, pumpkin pass, German freeze, bounce houses and other entertainment.
According to Knowles, most food options are provided by nonprofits in Hays that have created their own German specialties over the years, such as a German skillet of potatoes, sausage, and onions, fried bologna sandwiches, bierocks, brats, and green bean dumpling soup.
The World’s Largest Bierock will also be unveiled, and ticket holders will get a sample of the giant concoction.
“There’s food and entertainment and beer,” Knowles says, “all the things you need for a good time.”
Learn More: oktoberfesthays.com
Junction City
Bring your best yodeling calls to Junction City’s Oktoberfest on October 4–5. In addition to the yodeling contest, the festival features games such as Masskrugstemmen, Hammerschlagen, and Masskrugtragen (carrying beer steins for 40 meters without spilling). There also will be a lederhosen and dirndl best-dressed contest, a live polka band, a fire show, vendors, and a beer garden.
Learn More: junctioncityoktoberfest.com
Seneca
Celebrating the German heritage of Nemaha County, Seneca’s October 12 Oktoberfest will begin with a craft fair downtown. Ticket holders for the beer-tasting tent later in the day will receive a commemorative taster mug and 10 samples of craft beers from various breweries. Food and live music end the evening hosted by the Seneca Area Chamber and Downtown Impact.
Learn More: comeseeseneca.com
Stafford
The Stafford Oktoberfest opens on October 5 with traditional German games, including stein holding and keg throwing. There also will be a parade, magician, cornhole tournament, duck races, goat roping, street dance, inflatables, carnival games, beer garden, and craft and food vendors. Pre-event activities on Friday night will include musical bingo, food vendors and a beer garden.
Learn More: oktoberfeststaffordks.com
