Prost To the Most: A German American Festival in Northwestern Ohio

Posted on 08 December 2009 by Cornelius Aesop

If you find yourself slightly parched while searching through all the exciting cornfields and buckeyes that Ohio has to offer and have stumbled into the northwestern corner of the greater Toledo area then I have the festival for you. Ok, so the reality is that unless you live in the area or are intentionally searching for Midwestern cultural festivals it is hard to believe that you the traveler would search out this part of Ohio. Yet I found myself in just that situation and stumbled into a land of ‘das boot’ and great German bier. (That’s beer to you non-serious drinkers) So put your drinking cap on and let me paint a picture of a deep-rooted drinking culture.

You head just outside of Toledo to a small area that reminds you of scenes from Children of The Corn, when suddenly you find yourself among make-shift parking lots made in open grass fields. Yes, I am afraid to say that you have found yourself in Oregon, Ohio – yes I sad that right Oregon, Ohio but fear not you are in the right place. As you follow the crowds that only Oregon, Ohio can bring don’t be alarmed by their obsession of raccoons, he doesn’t bite. You have found yourself the diamond in the corn, no wait I mean the kernel in the rough – whatever you call it you have just found Oregon, Ohio’s German American Festival.

What does this all mean, it means I hope you brought your lederhosen, trenker hat (I’m still regretting I didn’t buy one of those) and most importantly your drinking glass. What’s this, you forgot all of those, well fear not because like any good festival you can buy them here. So you have the clothes, your plastic ‘das boot’ with strap so you don’t loose it and a pocket full of tickets that they told you that you need to buy. So what is there to get with these tickets, well beer, sausage and kraut but of course. Sure Budwieser sounds German but we are talking about Spaten, Franziskaner, Paulaner, Hofbräu, Warsteiner and Köstritzer. If you have no clue what any of those are that is perfectly okay because you now have the opportunity to explore each of them.

As you enjoy the sights and beverages offered venture to the large bier garden where atop a raised stage you will see a traditional polka band jamming away. What’s the big deal, a polka band at a German festival right? I thought so too until I saw old and young alike singing along in German to the songs. Many cultural festivals are struggling to stay alive by an aging population while the minimal youth who show up have lost so much of their heritage that it is more of a novelty to them than us, yet here it was different. I mumbled ‘words’ and hopped about in trying to imitate everyone else to the drunkenly euphoric polka beat.

Fear not of corn, buckeyes and raccoons for they offer bier, schnitzel and potato pancakes. So your not German, I’m a monkey. Yeah it’s Ohio but just tell people you got lost on I-80 on your way to Chicago, I believe you.