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City all set to celebrate German festival of Oktoberfest
This year, the chamber has tied up with local breweries such as Doolally craft beers, Effingut Brewerkz, and Kimaya brewing company and German delicacies like Thuringer rostbratwurste, grill bratwurst mitttelgrob, and Krakauer wurst chang will also be served.
The Indo-German chamber of commerce (Deutsch-Indische Handelskammer, Pune Division) will be hosting the annual Oktoberfest at member’s enclosure of the Royal Western Indian Turf club (RWITC), Camp from October 26 to 28. This year, the chamber believes in giving this platform to the city craft brewers who have created special flavours of beer like Apfelwein, Pilsne, Hefeweizen, Marzen, Dunkelweizen and Festbier during the three-day event.
“In Germany, Oktoberfest showcases best of brews from local breweries, paired with some local German delicacies along with music; we are going to recreate the same tradition. To mark the occasion, each brewery is attempting to their version of an Oktoberfest special beer,” said Natascha Lewandowski, regional director, Indo-German chamber of commerce.
This year, the chamber has tied up with local breweries such as Doolally craft beers, Effingut Brewerkz, and Kimaya brewing company and German delicacies like Thuringer rostbratwurste, grill bratwurst mitttelgrob, and Krakauer wurst chang will also be served.
Many German nationals in the city have been looking forward to the event. Philip Bauer, a German resident living in Pune, said, “I had the opportunity to visit the Oktoberfest for the first time in Pune a couple of years ago,and I think that the location is a good choice as it is surrounded by greenery. However, it is unusual to have the combination of horse racing and Oktoberfest. And the decision to go with a local brewery did not hurt the quality or the taste of the beer.”
Holger Klitschkeis, who has been in Pune for more than two years, said, “I attended the Oktoberfest at High Spirits, everything was perfect in the end as I met a lot of nice people. The original German Oktoberfest band was great and no Oktoberfest is complete without brezels and German beer”.
D Arnaud, a professor who is working in Pune, said, “The Oktoberfest is a wonderful occasion for people to come together once a year and get an insight into the Bavarian festival Oktoberfest and its food, music and atmosphere and actually experience the good Indo-German relations.”
German master brewer Oliver Schauff, who has been helping the local breweries create authentic beers, said, “It is important for me to be part of this event because it’s the quintessential German beer event and we try hard to make the one in Pune as authentic as possible. Besides it all about introducing new beers and this time the Indo-German chamber of commerce is indeed trying to recreate the platform for us to show our best.”
Oktoberfest takes place in Germany in autumn. It began in 1810 when Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, and all of the citizens were invited to the celebration. Since then, the festival has grown to include horse races, games, rides, music, and eventually beer.
