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48h Annual German-American
Festival 2013
Taking Place at Oak Shade Grove in Oregon, Ohio - August 23, 24 & 25, 2013
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Festival Information:
Future Festival Dates: August 22 -
24, 2014; August 28 - 30, 2015; August 26 - 28, 2016
All alcohol sales end at Midnight Friday and Saturday.
Liquor available on
Sunday
WHAT:
The 48th German-American Festival, the
The Festival is operated by the G.A.F. Society,
recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a
§501(c)(3)
charitable organization. It is
sponsored by the seven German- and Swiss-American Societies in
WHY:
The purpose of the German-American Festival is to promote and enhance
the German and Swiss cultures as well as generates revenue to support the German
and Swiss cultural center in
WHERE:
Oak Shade Grove, 3624 Seaman Road, Oregon, Ohio, just ½ mile east of Coy Road.
WHEN:
Friday, August 23, 2013: 6:00
p.m. – 1:00 a.m. (Parade and Opening Ceremonies begin at 8:00 p.m.)
Saturday, August 24,
2013: 2:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.
Sunday, August
25, 2013: 12:00 Noon – 11:00 p.m. with a German Language worship service at 10:30
a.m.
ADMISSION:
General admission: $7.00 per person. Children 12 years of age and under admitted at no charge all weekend when accompanied by a parent or guardian.
$6 Discount Advance Purchase Admission Tickets & GAF
Shuttle Tickets are available for online purchase at
www.germanamericanfestival.net or www.gafsociety.org/fest.htm.
Save time and avoid
lines at the entrance gates, buy tickets in advance and online, print at home
and save! Two day ($10) and three day ($15) admission passes available only
online.
Discount Advance
Purchase Admission Tickets & GAF Shuttle Tickets are also available at
Arnie’s-Westgate; Arnie’s on Levis in Perrysburg; Berger’s Olde Tyme on Laskey;
Shawn’s Irish Tavern on Heatherdowns and on Third St. in Waterville; Manhattan’s
Restaurant, The Attic on Adams, Wesley’s Bar & Grill and the Ottawa Tavern in
the Toledo Uptown area; Ventura’s Original Mexican Cantina on Bancroft, Mayfly
Tavern in Point Place and Yeeha’s Buckin’ Bar & Grill on Navarre in Oregon.
Special Sunday Discounts: Active
military, police, fire, or
GAF SHUTTLE:
$6.00 GAF Shuttle ticket purchase, as well as free
parking and shuttle pick-up and drop-off locations at
five Toledo-area locations.
Shuttle tickets also available at Shawn’s Irish
Tavern on Heatherdowns and on
Shuttle ticket locations & departure locations:
o
Arnie’s-Westgate
o
Arnie’s on
o
Berger’s Olde Tyme on
o
o
Mayfly Tavern on
o
The Attic on Adams in
Shuttle Departure Times:
o Friday, August 23, 2013 – 6:00 p.m.
– 1:00 a.m.
o Saturday, August 24, 2013 – 4:00
p.m. – 1:00 a.m.
o Last shuttle departs from parking
pick-up location at 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
o Last GAF shuttle departs from
Festival Grounds at 1:00 a.m.
o Special Sunday Shuttle: Sunday,
August 25, 2013 – 2:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. from Arnie’s Westgate only.
Last shuttle departs from Arnie’s on Sunday at 7:00 p.m.
Last
shuttle departs from Festival Grounds at 11:00 p.m.
•
Continuous live music
at 3 stages from local Germanic and ethnic bands, andour strolling button box
artist from Germantown, Wisc. Our featured band is Austrian Express from
Milwaukee, Wisc. and Phenix from
•
Large 56’ by 40’
wooden dance floor
(in the Fest Zelt – the main tent: a 100 foot by 265 foot clear span tent with no poles!
Made in
•
Over 70 acres of free, lighted parking
with people movers to deliver you to the main entrance gate on
•
The Festival is spread over
10 wooded acres providing an
authentic German atmosphere.
•
Handicapped parking available
from
• Shuttle bus service from six Toledo-area parking lots deliver you right to the gate and safely returns you to your car.
•
Taxi Cab stand
In the interest of public safety, Back & White Cab and the German-American
Festival are teaming up! Show proof
that you’ve taken a Black & White Cab to one of the Festival’s many shuttle
locations or the Festival site and you’ll receive $5.00 worth of food or
beverages tickets. Proof of
purchase is required so please bring your receipt.
Get your tickets at the Guest Services tent!
Also, there is now a Taxi area, use the East gate, by the bus pickup and
you can access cabs!
• Opening ceremony with parade featuring colorful costumes and pageantry through the Festival grounds. In honor of Naval Week: Navy Band Great Lakes and Naval Honor Guard!
•
How fast can you eat soft, baked pretzels? Join the Brezelessen (pretzel eating) competition! In the Hofbräuhalle on Saturday at 9:00 p.m.
•
Hummel Look-Alike Contest
is a contest for all children from 2 to 10 years of age by pre-application.
The children dress like the famous Hummel figurines with prizes awarded for the most authentic look-alike.
This is the longest running similar contest in the
•
Schwabenhalle Outdoor Pavilion renamed the Hofbräuhalle
features rain or shine entertainment throughout the day and evening.
•
Old World-style outdoor Bier & Wein Garten
under the trees will feature large umbrellatables. A wooden dance floor
withcontinuous German polkas and waltzes featured there. Watch for special
performances by our folklore dance group – the Holzhacker Buam Schuhplattler –
as well as other folklore dance groups from the
•
Designated Driver Program –
The Guest Services
Booth will again have coupons which can be purchase by “Designated Drivers” to
be used for three discounted soft drinks to enjoy while visiting the Festival.
The cost is $3.00 which will give the “Designated Driver” 3 coupons for a 20 oz.
soft drink of your choice at any Pop booth on the grounds.
• Raffle –
A super 50/50 raffle with prizes will be awarded each evening and final drawingon Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m. Winners need not be present. Tickets are 3 for $5.
•
Amusement rides
in 2013 include rides such as:
Scooter(bumper cars), Paratrooper, Sizzler,
Funhouse, Super slide, Ferris wheel, Merry-go-round, Barrels of fun, Cartoon
train, Mini-enterprise, Tilt-a-whirl, Fire trucks, Whale ride, and Monkey bounce
for children
and the young at heart all weekend.
Again in 2012:
All Day Ride pass and
discounted special pricing.
• Children’s Identification Program – have your child complete an ID kit and keep a set of fingerprints. This helps promote your child’s safety. This program is under the direction of Oregon Police Division
•
Face painting and clowns making balloon animals
– Saturday and Sunday
•
Soccer game and matches on both Saturday and Sunday.
•
Glockenspiel – While it’s not exactly like the famous Glockenspiel in
•
German-language Worship Service – Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. with special music by our own Teutonia Männerchor & Damenchor and Toledo Swiss Singers. Free admission to Festival after the Service.
•
Master woodcarver Berndt Fehrenbach
will be displaying
•
Again
in 2013:
Mitzi’s Hütte
is the place
to get your souvenirs and heritage items.
Set back off the main walkway, Mitzi’s Hütte is located between the
Hofbräuhalle and the Swiss Essen Haus.
You will find our exclusive mascot raccoon made for us by Build-a-Bear
Workshop
. New this year is the famous
spirit titanium necklace – we have it in our German colors among a variety of
other colors! Shirts for all ages,
bibs and baby blankies, aprons, magnets, biergarten stein covers are just a few
among the many items for sale. Be
sure to stop at
Mitzi’s Hütte and get the
spirit of the fest!
• Trachtenzelt – features German wearable's and souvenirs by Schwarzkopf & Keilhofer of
•
Credit Cards
– credit/debit cards can be used throughout the Festival
grounds.
• Sidewalk Café – enjoy Kuchen, Strudels, cookies, and a variety of other homemade pastries. This is a very pleasant and relaxing place to sit down at a cozy table to enjoy your favorite dessert and coffee. Returning in 2013:
German
Dessert Baking Contest on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Submit entry to the Sidewalk Café (along with the recipe) on the day of the event!
See the form for the
2012 Baking Contest here
• Lebkuchenherz – our own homemade, hand decorated gingerbread hearts – just like at the Oktoberfest in
• Swiss
• Maxi-Cooker – in order to ensure that each of the thousands of chickens served at the German-American Festival is perfectly cooked, we have a chicken cooker with state of the art controls.
• Potato Pancakes – enjoy hand made potato pancakes made the old German way.
• Schnitzel Sandwiches – masterfully made in front of you, served on a Kaiser roll.
•
And plenty of other food items –
ham shanks, Bratwurst, jalapeño Wurst, smoked Wurst, Brat patty sandwiches,
pretzels,funnel cakes, Leberkäs platters, Sauerkraut, cheddar Wurst, hand made
potatosalad, Sauerkraut balls, hand cut Pommes Frites, ice cream, cream
puffs,pickles, landjäger, sweet corn and freshly popped popcorn!
New in 2013:
Our special
Bratwurst – made with Swiss cheese and
mushrooms!!
•
Featured Beers
–
Returning in 2013,
our light beer:
Labatt Blue Light and from Germany our featured beers: Warsteiner Pilsner,
Warsteiner Dunkel (Dark), Warsteiner Oktoberfest, König Ludwig Weisse, Spaten
Premium Lager, Spaten Dunkel (Dark), Spaten Oktoberfest, Spaten Optimator,
Franziskaner Weissbier, Franziskaner Dunkel (Dark), Hofbräu Dunkel, Hofbräu
Original, Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier,
and Hofbräu Hefeweizen.
Our other great
imported beers are:
Augustiner Maximator (Dark), Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen
Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock, Ayinger Oktoberfest Bier,
Ayinger Weizenbock, Ayinger Dunkel (Dark),
Bitburger,
Hacker-Pschorr München, Hacker-Pschorr Weisse,
Paulaner Lager, Paulaner Premium Pils,
Paulaner
Oktoberfest, Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier, Paulaner Salvator, Erdinger Hefe,
Köstritzer Schwarzbier,
Schneider Unser Aventinus, Schneider Weisse, Tucher Kristallweizen, and
Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier.
New this year:
Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche Doppelbock, Berliner Weisse 1809, Kaiserdom Pilsner,
Leipziger Gose, Reissdorf Kolsch, Schneider Aventinus Eisbock,
and George Schneider’s Wiesen Edel Weisse (an organic Bier),
served in the German Bier Garten and throughout the Festival!
We proudly feature one
of the largest collections of German beers at any Festival (more than the famed Oktoberfest in
• Our featured cocktail:
Imagine our new signature drink, the German Chocolate Cupcake! It tastes just like everyones’ favorite: German’s™ Chocolate Cake – oh so tasty! Imagine a drink that looks like a German flag! So schmeckt Deutschland – a taste of•
Our wine list includes: Schlink Haus Auslese, Kabinett, Dornfelder, Riesling QbA and Spätlese, Schmitt Sohne Piesporter; and Sutter Home Chardonnay and Moscato. Wine tasting on Saturday and Sunday in the Wein Garten. Returning in 2013: Der deutsche Wein-Flug – sample six great German wine varieties to help you find the one you enjoy the most!• Our soft drink specialties: We proudly serve Pepsi products!
• Give Trash the Boot! Returning in 2013! Plastic boot shaped souvenirs for you to take home. Drinking from a boot or Stiefel is a long-time German tradition. Made popular in the film "Beerfest!“ Also other initiatives to reduce trash going to landfills.
Website:
www.gafsociety.org/fest.htm
www.myspace.com/germanamericanfestival
www.germanamericanfestival.net
Media contact:
Timothy
Pecsenye, Festival Chairman
(419) 356-9790 – Media use only, please
(419) 474-7604
NEWS ANGLES:
•
Opening ceremony with the visual attention of the opening parade featuring
colorful costumes and pageantry.
•
The background
and purpose of the seven German-speaking societies sponsoring the Festival.
•
How the German-American Festival came to be the
oldest and largest ethnic festival in the Toledo-area, as well as one of the
largest in this part of the
•
The Festival is
regularly voted as the Best Ethnic Festival in the
•
Winner of the 2011
Prism Award of the Eastern
•
Regularly named in
blogs such as: 50 Things To Do With Kids in
•
How a child
prepares for the Hummel contest.
•
Volume of food
and beverages served at past Festivals (see statistics on next page).
Interviews with cooks in the Festival Kitchen.
•
What it means to
volunteer at the Festival.
•
Tons of authentic
German potato salad being made by volunteers – every ounce is peeled & cut
by hand!
•
Erecting the main
tent
•
Soccer Games.
GAF Social Network Festival Links:
GAF Facebook Link:www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9032664589
GAF MySpace Link:
www.myspace.com/germanamericanfestival
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