Germantown Oktoberfest To be held September 22, 23

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Contact: Bill Ryder, 240-777-6823
For Immediate Release: September 6, 2000

Germantown Oktoberfest
To be held September 22, 23

The traditional hot air balloons and a variety of entertainment, food and festivities will highlight Oktoberfest 2000, Germantown's annual festival celebrating Bavarian tradition and culture. The festival will be held September 22 and September 23 at Phillips Farm, 13710 Schaeffer Road. Admission is free on both days.

Friday evening activities, to be held from 6 to 9, will feature the sounds of Motown, swing, funk, jazz, disco, and rock performed by the Power House band, the hot air balloon glow and fireworks. Bring blankets or lawn chairs to sit on for the evening. Food vendors and the beer garden will be open.

Events on Saturday begin with the hot air balloon race at 7 a.m., which will take off from the fields at Kingsview and Clopper roads. The festival, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., will include entertainment by the Lyle Sexton German Band, Das Meister Duett, and Tisza Ensemble dancers. The Kindertheater tent will feature two free puppet shows by the award-winning Grey Seal Puppets. The Germantown Buhne Stage will host community entertainment throughout the day, such as the bluegrass band Knee Deep in the Marsh.

The beer tent will be surrounded by authentic Bavarian-German restaurants, and there will be children's activities such as scarecrow making, face painting, the Adrenaline Rush obstacle course, two moonbounces, a giant slide, pony rides, and carnival games. Potomac Valley Bank will again offer $10,000 at the "Putt for Cash" competition. The Phillips Farm Fair will promote the harvest tradition of Oktoberfest by offering such activities as a corn maze, petting zoo, and hay rides.

While the Oktoberfest benefits several charities, Books, Bears, & Bonnets, Inc., a non-profit organization distributing gift packages with books, magazines, teddy bears, and hats to cancer patients in the Baltimore-Washington area, has been selected as the primary beneficiary.

The festival dates have been moved this year to correlate more closely with the autumnal equinox, the customary start of the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.

Free parking is located adjacent to the festival on Schaeffer Road. In addition, free shuttle bus service will run from the MARC station on Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Handicap parking is located at the Trinity United Methodist Church on Schaeffer Road.

Oktoberfest is produced by the Germantown Oktoberfest Committee, consisting of volunteer citizens and individuals from service organizations, in addition to representatives from the Montgomery County Government. The Artery Development Group and the Gazette Newspapers are sponsors of Oktoberfest 2000.

For information on Oktoberfest, call 240-777-6821 or access the County's Department of Recreation web site at http://www.co.mo.md.us/services/rec/oktoberfest2000.html

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