If you enjoy traveling and learning about new countries and cultures, then you probably know the traditions and Oktoberfest games from Germany. Everything that is fueled by the national spirit and saturated with national colors attracts us more than anything ordinary. So why not arrange a party in the national style and preferably celebrate a local festival known all over the world? The Oktoberfest games, which take place every year in Bavaria, are becoming increasingly popular worldwide.
Festivals with hearty food, rivers of different types of beer, traditional Bavarian dances and songs - it's all theredie Münchner Wiesn. If you are planning or organizing such a vacation, you will be able to fill it with joy and fun with the help of today's article about the Oktoberfest games.
Olympic sports at the Oktoberfest
The undisputed advantage of Bavarian games for Oktoberfest is that you can arrange games for private Oktoberfest at any time of the year, anywhere. This is because the fun is greater for everyone involved in a large company. This type of celebration doesn't necessarily require drinking tons of beer, but rather is an opportunity to wear traditional Bavarian costumes.
You can also enjoy the numerous delicacies, the folk music and at the same time the good beer in moderation. If your plans also involve a variety of competitions and entertainment, your own Oktoberfest games can become even more exciting. For this reason, below we will describe how to organize such a thematic event for you.
Make invitations
We'll start with the invitations you can create for such a party on homemade cards in the form of a beer mat. You can also find and purchase ready-made coasters that represent your favorite beer. You can design a clean one of these that is either round or square accordingly for male or female guests as an invitation.
In the finished versions, you need to find space to write and write down the name of the invited friend, the date and time of the upcoming event. You can also put such an invitation in an envelope and give it to your guest personally or by mail. The beer mat version is convenient because the guests who come to your party can place the beer glasses on the coasters without leaving ugly marks on the surfaces.
If you have found a pure beer coaster, you should not only put the information described above on it, but also communicate the theme of the event and the need for a Bavarian costume. You can also send such an invitation in this way. Another interesting variant could be a beer bottle, on the label of which you can enter all the information about the Oktoberfest games. Such a bottle invitation can be an excellent souvenir that will remind your friends of the event for a long time. However, if the bottle seems too fancy for you, you can stick a sticker on the beer glass.
Find the right place and premises
OneBavarian style beer partyis an event that can be organized at any location convenient for you. If you don't want to spend a lot of time designing and preparing the premises and refreshments, you can rent a brasserie with a ready entourage. There will certainly be a large selection of beer, snacks and television available. On the latter you and your friends can still watch football if there is a championship taking place at that time.
If you want to celebrate the Oktoberfest games in a small circle, you can organize a party in your own apartment, a country house, or even in an open field. The main thing is that you have enough supplies of food and beer for the evening. If you are having an outdoor party, you can also install a marquee with long wooden benches. These are very useful because the Germans all dance together on the tables during the celebration.Cover the tableswith tablecloths in white and light blue and place napkins on them. Hang flags and garlands along the perimeter, and if you are organizing a Bavarian party in honor of the birthday, then you can hang a banner with congratulations.
Entertainment for a beer party
Prepare yourself in organizing your traditionalBavarian style partyprepare for those party games and competitions that are associated with the intoxicating drink. However, do not overdo the competition, where it is necessary to drink beer for speed. It is very likely that your guests will “fail” in the middle of the evening, which is definitely not what you want.
So first start with a competition that is still sober and reserved - ring toss for accuracy. Preparation for such a game does not take long, and you can cut the rings out of cardboard with a diameter of 20 cm or buy plastic rings. To do this, prepare a sufficient number of empty beer bottles and arrange them at different distances. Participants will then be able to aim accordingly. The number of attempts for each participant should be the same, while the players participating are limited only to the wishes of those present. A score is given for each successful throw, and the further the bottle is, the more points are awarded. The winner is the player who gets the maximum number of points.
The second competition should be for fast beer drinkers. You choose in advance who can take part before everyone sets up a chair with an open beer bottle on it. The task is logically to show speed while drinking, but without using hands and help from the audience.
Another interesting rivalry of accuracy can be throwing a bottle cap into a beer glass. You can improvise such a competition during the evening when the guests have already warmed up. This means you will also be able to check the sobriety of the participants.
Choose music
In addition to the beer games and competitions, the entertainment program can of course also include musical accompaniment. It's not that difficult and you can simply download the traditional Bavarian songs that will play in the background during the party. In addition, we should not forget the typical Bavarian dance, which is danced by both women and men.
In this regard, you can offer a dance competition where participants will be introduced to the basic dance moves. Try out the moves for the ethnic Bavarian music, and then when the guests start dancing, turn on some of the modern repertoire. Then see who gets out and who stays on the dance floor. The winner is chosen by the sympathy of the audience with applause.
Treats and drinks
Oktoberfest party games are of course closely linked to food and drink, with beer ruling the event. The presence of different types of beer, dark or light, filtered or cloudy, allows you to include this drink. Of course, you can also put Oktoberfest cocktails or other drinks on the table. If someone in your circle of friends is not a beer lover, you can offer them a beer cocktail that can be made from light beer and Sprite in a 1:1 ratio. A slice of lemon completes the whole thing.
If you know Bavarian cuisine, you will undoubtedly notice that the most popular main dish is sausage, which is first boiled and then fried. You can use vegetables or potatoes as a side dish. In addition to sausages, Bavarians like to eat schnitzel in large quantities with breading and mushrooms or beer sauce, as well as fried chicken. Each piece of meat marinated in wine or vinegar is seasoned with spices and stewed in sweet and sour sauce.
When planning the menu, don't forget to include the traditional Bavarian pretzels, served with beer or instead of bread. In addition to these pastas, you can get some kind of pate, Camembert cheese, spices, butter and herbs. Such sandwiches will leave your guests delighted because they are tasty, hearty and Bavarian-style.
For dessert, serve heart-shaped gingerbread cookies covered with icing. These sweets are traditional for Oktoberfest in Bavaria. If for some reasons your party is held closer to the New Year, then give a standing gingerbread with cinnamon, chocolate, almonds, ginger and honey in the form of houses, stars, snowmen, angels, etc.
National Bavarian costumes
An integral part of the Oktoberfest games is the existence of a dress code and compliance with it. A Bavarian-style party is no exception, so all your guests come in a Bavarian national costume, which will undoubtedly allow you to maintain the national atmosphere. That's why there's a line about the costumes in the invitations. Before you go to such an ethnic group, you still need to learn the national Bavarian clothing style so that you know exactly what you could do for an event of this kind.
Start with the male onestraditional Bavarian costumes, which consist of short trousers, gaiters of fine wool, coat, vest, jacket, hat with hairbrushes or feathers and thick-soled shoes. The trousers are usually embroidered with multi-colored embroidery. In addition, men can tie a tie that extends in the form of a ribbon along the entire length.
A female Bavarian dirndl consists of a blouse, a lush skirt, an apron, a vest similar to a corset with buttons or lacing in the front. The colors of the costume can be any, but recently the combination of white and blue is becoming increasingly popular. If you wish, you can also recreate Bavarian costumes easily and simply, provided you can take the time to do so.
Thus, the Oktoberfest games are a joyful and nationally led event, the key moments of which in the first phase of preparation are based on ethnic characteristics. Organize and enjoy a Bavarian style beer party with your friends, relatives, acquaintances and colleagues and let the fun and beer flow!
