One of the city’s most popular fall celebrations, Oktoberfest, will open Saturday for a two-day party in First Tennessee Pavilion as part of an expanded Chattanooga Market.
Melissa Siragusa said the festival will fill the pavilion with traditional German foods, local brews, dancing and live entertainment as well as the weekly vendors selling their fresh foods and handcrafted items.
Additionally, dancers from the Center for Creative Arts and Chattanooga Theatre Centre will perform traditional German dances at 3 p.m. Sunday under the direction of Lindsay Fussell.
The Volks Folks VW car club will get the fun started each morning with a cruise-in of VWs at 11 a.m.
Market visitors may enjoy any of the 18 varieties of local and seasonal brews found in the Biergarten. The Wurstbrats Band will put the oomph in the oompah-band sound. Urban Rocks Gym will bring in a free rock-climbing wall.
Hoping to capitalize on the solid crowds drawn to Chattanooga Market, the Bach Choir is introducing a new fundraiser at the festival: Bavarience. The choir will sell authentic German cuisine and hold a silent auction at their booth within the pavilion.
“For several years we’ve held a Mardi Gras as our major fundraiser,” said choir board member Tom Wolfe. “This is the first time we’ve done a venture quite like this, but we’ll get a lot of exposure at Chattanooga Market. We’re focusing on making it a very authentic experience.”
They’ve turned to one of their new members, Anita Paul, as their trusted authority on the Bavarian experience. Paul is a native German who moved to this city in December with her husband, Rolf, from Florida. This will be the Pauls’ first Oktoberfest since moving to the city.
Paul provided choir members with her own German recipe for Bavarian potato salad and her mother’s sauerkraut recipe for the choir. The food to be sold is being prepared by Mercantino.
Philip Newton, Bavarience chairman, said Reibekuchen (potato pancakes with sauce) will be three for $6, one brat on a roll is $6, brat/sauerkraut combo plates are $8, individual portions of kraut or salad are $2.
Oktoberfest scheduleSaturday8 a.m. Registration for OLPH 5K and 1-mile Ram Run11 a.m. Volkswagen cruise-in11 a.m. Homebrew contestNoon. Shontelle12:30 p.m. The Ready Set1 p.m. Runner Runner3 p.m. Winners of homebrew contest announced3 p.m. German dance performanceSunday11 a.m. Volkswagen cruise-in11 a.m.-4 p.m. Wurstbrats3 p.m. German dance performance
Paul also gave the choir pointers on how to eat a bratwurst.
“You need really good rolls,” she said, “not soft rolls, but German bread rolls. You slice the roll, put in the brat and add mustard. Normally, we just put mustard on a brat.”
The Pauls have also donated logo brewers’ steins from Germany to the silent auction.
Newton said other auction items will include two tickets on Lufthansa to the 2011 Munich Oktoberfest, room and restaurant coupons for a weekend getaway to Monteagle, hang-gliding lessons, tickets to the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera’s holiday and Masterworks performances and many smaller items.
FESTIVALS THIS WEEKEND
* Chattanooga Oktoberfest: First Tennessee Pavilion, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, free. www. chattanoogamarket.com.
* Chiaha Harvest Fair: Ridge Ferry Park, Rome, Ga., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 120 artists, $5 adults, $4 students and senior adults, $1 children under 12, free parking. ww.chiaha.org.
* Craft and Bake Sale: Cloud Springs Baptist Church, 210 Cloud Springs Road, Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, benefits Golden Agers group. 706-866-0164.
* Harvest of Art: Rhea County Welcome Center, Highway 27, Dayton, Tenn., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. today and Saturday, free, annual art show sponsored by Dayton Arts League. 423-775-5122.
* Holiday Extravaganza: First-Centenary United Methodist Church gymnasium, 419 McCallie Ave., 11 a.m.-6 p.m. today, free, silent auction and vendors selling gift items. 265-9736, ext. 2.
* North Georgia Ag Fair: North Georgia Fairgrounds, 500 Legion Drive, Dalton, Ga., opens 5 p.m. weekdays, 3 p.m. Saturdays, 1 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 30; $6 adults, $3 ages 4-12, $3 Sunday for anyone bringing a church bulletin; 60 games and rides, livestock, petting zoo, and featured act Rosaiare’s Bears, the largest group of touring trained bears. 706-278-1712.
* Red Clay Pow Wow: Red Clay State Park, Cleveland, Tenn., 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, grand entrance at noon each day; $5, American Indian art, crafts, games, dancing, storytelling, music and traditional skills; bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating.