The German Cultural Society will celebrate Oktoberfest this month.
Festivities will be held Friday through Sunday, Sept. 8-10, at Donau Park, 5020 W. Four Ridge Road, in House Springs. The event is free and open to the public.
“It’s a great time to come out and celebrate your German heritage,” said society spokesman Joe Wendl. “Of course, there will be lots of German food throughout the weekend.”
The fun will kick off from 7-10 p.m. Sept. 8, when “Bier Night” is held, and will include $5 bratwursts.
Throughout the festival, a mix of American and German beers will be available for purchase, including Paulaner Hefe-Weizen, a wheat beer, and Hofbrau Oktoberfest, a hoppy and fruity beer. Classic German pretzels will be available for purchase, too.
The Wendl Band, a three-piece accordion group, will perform on Sept. 8.
“We encourage people to come out on the dance floor,” Wendl said.
He said four dance groups – Kindertanzgruppe, Jugendgruppe, Die Heimatgruppe and Volkstanzgruppe – will perform throughout the three-day event.
Wendl said those groups are made up of dancers “ranging from kids to those young at heart, wearing lederhosen and dirndl” and will perform traditional German dance.
He said the second day of Oktoberfest runs from 5-10 p.m. Sept. 9, when a meal of brat sliders and fries or sauerkraut balls and fries will be sold for $10 each.
Wendl said the sauerkraut balls, a blend of sauerkraut and meatball deep-fried to a golden-brown, are new this year.
Die Spitzbaum, a five-piece band from St. Louis, will provide musical entertainment on Sept. 9, playing both contemporary and traditional German folk music.
The last day of the event will be from noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 10, when traditional wurst dinners will be sold for $15 each. The dinner will include a Weisswurst and a bratwurst sausage, as well as slaw, potato salad, sauerkraut, bread, and either apple or cherry streusel. Wendl said Weisswurst is a white sausage made from minced veal and pork.
The Deutschmeister Brass Band, a subgroup of the German Cultural Society, will play on Sept. 10.
The band, which has been performing since 1963, is considered a traditional brass band and plays a variety of music, including marches, polkas, waltzes and tangos.
“Get here early,” Wendl said. “We sell out quickly.”
For more information, go to the German Cultural Society’s website, germanstl.org, or call the society at 314-771-8368.