Oktoberfest hits town
OKTOBERFEST, Germany's annual excuse to eat, drink and yodel to excess, as well as relish the earthy, high-spirited atmosphere known by Bavarians as gemuttichkert, comes to Hong Kong this week.
The Holiday Inn Golden Mile and the Omni Hong Kong Hotel are re-creating the festival which originated in 1810 in Bavaria - and attracts six million tourists every year to Munich.
Holiday Inn Golden Mile's newly renovated ballroom will be transformed into a traditional Bavarian beer garden for three nights from Thursday until Sunday.
The Hotel is welcoming back the original Oktoberfest Show Band from Munich along with multi-instrumentalist master of ceremonies Jorg Dellacher and the 'Yodelling Queen', Miss Franzi.
Tickets cost $450 for a Bavarian buffet dinner of German sausages, two large mugs of Lowenbrau beer, a glass of schnapps as well as live entertainment.
The hotel does not have to import either sausages or beer from Germany.
Lowenbrau is brewed locally and Austrian executive chef Alfred Brugner is a trained charcutier (butcher) who produces more than 50 types of sausage and wurst at the hotel's smokehouse.
At the Omni Hong Kong Hotel, the open-air concourse on the sixth floor will be transformed for the third consecutive year with colourful marquees into a German beer garden for the festival.
It runs until October 15.
German sausage and sauerkraut is again the order of the day, while entertainment courtesy of a boisterous imported band called The Notenhoblers ranges from blowing the air-horn competitions to the chicken dance.
