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Good Living: Milwaukee's Annual German Fest
| Article
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17258 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1998 |
1,865 Words |
| Author
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Michael Perry
Michael Perry, a frequent contributor to The World & I, is a
freelance writer based in New Auburn, Wisconsin. |
The three-day event will celebrate its eighteenth year this July, as well as Wisconsin's sesquicentennial. It has become, according to organizers, the largest German festival in America. Up to one hundred thousand people will attend; their presence not only reflects the rich German heritage of Milwaukee and surrounding regions but the desire to preserve and pass on that culture to their children.
If last year's gathering was any indication, the logo will live up to its billing, with gem?lichkeit to spare. "German Fest is a participatory endeavor," says Trudy Paradis, vice president in charge of culture heritage with German Fest. "We have a volunteer corps of directors, and at the fest we have up to three thousand volunteers."
But good living and camaraderie are only half of it: As one festivalgoer's shirt declared last summer, "Schnitzel Happens."
Aprons and alpenhorns
On a warm day in July, the Henry W. Maier Festival Park is awash with sunlight as waltz music wafts over the grounds, mingling in midair with the smell of potato pancakes and bratwurst. Listen closely, and among the midwestern chatter you'll hear snatches of German dialect, as well as Milwaukee colloquialisms that can be traced to adaptations of German words and expressions: He wanted to "stay to home" rather than "go by" the festival. Strings of miniature flags--alternating German and American--bob in the breeze like cheerful state laundry, dipping in the middle toward the revelers milling about below. Many are dressed in traditional costumes: plumed velour hats or bonnets, suspendered
... (1997 of 11821 Characters)
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