The 2024 German Cultural Society’s annual Maifest is coming up and will offer attendees German food, drink, music and dance.
Festivities will be held from 7-10 p.m. Friday, May 17; 5-10 p.m. Saturday, May 18; and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, May 19, at the organization’s Donau Park facility, 5020 W. Four Ridge Road, in the House Springs area.
The event is open to the public, and admission is free.
Joe Wendl, a member of the society’s executive board, said hundreds of people typically attend the annual event, which will be held rain or shine.
“We’re looking to have another great festival,” Wendl said. “We have the covered pavilion, so rain does not affect it.
“The big thing people look for at Maifest is the presentation of the Maibaum – the Maypole. Dancers wrap ribbon around the Maypole. We’ll do that all three days, near the start of festivities each day.”
Several musical acts are scheduled, including The Wendl Band on May 17, Die Spitzbaum on May 18 and Deutschmeister Brass Band on May 19.
“I play in (The Wendl Band). I play accordion,” Wendl said. “My uncle also plays accordion, and my dad plays the drums.
“Die Spitzbuam is a five-piece band. The Sunday band, the Deutschmeister Brass Band, is our house band and is probably made up of 20 or so club members.”
In addition to the organization’s children’s, youth and adult dance groups, a new dance group has been added to this year’s event, the Schuhplattler group.
“The Schuhplattler group has all ages,” Wendl said. “There’s shoe slapping and lederhosen slapping.”
German food and beer, along with other refreshments, will be available for purchase.
Wurstmarkt
The German Cultural Society just wrapped up another one of its annual events – the Wurstmarkt, which was held April 21 and drew more than 500 people to Donau Park, Wendl reported.
“The weather was great,” he said. “It was a little cool, but it was fine, especially if you sat in the sun. We were very happy and grateful everyone came out.”
The event was a fundraiser for the society.
“We sold 425 meals,” Wendl said. “That’s a record for this event.”
People enjoyed the dinners, he said.
“We had sausage meals for sale,” Wendl said. “You got two sausages. Everyone got a Hungarian sausage – a sausage made with paprika – and a choice between a weisswurst, which is white sausage, and a traditional German bratwurst. The sides were green beans, German potato salad and sauerkraut, with a dessert of apple strudel or peach strudel.”
While the focus of the Wurstmarkt may be the dinners, attendees also get to enjoy music, dancing, camaraderie and more, he said.
“We have German beer and we sold out all six kegs,” Wendl said. “We had German music from the Deutschmeister Brass Band. We had four performances from our dance groups.”
He said he did not know how much money the society raised through the dinner, but it is one of the group’s big fundraisers each year.
“It helps us keep promoting our other causes and German Cultural Society events,” Wendl said.
For more information about German Cultural Society activities, visit germanstl.org.