Oldenburg Freudenfest
Sauerkraut pie? Well, why not? It’s one of the home-baked flavors typically auctioned off during the Freudenfest in Oldenburg, Indiana. This year’s dates are July 18 and 19, 2014.
Billing itself as the “biggest little German festival in Indiana”, you’ll find this small town filled with gemütlichkeit.
Consider first the pie auction. It’s held at 4 p.m. on Saturday (July 18). Every year, there are a wide variety of pies from apple to banana cream (not to mention one-of-a-kind specials such as Freudenfest sauerkraut). There’s no planning ahead for buyers because all of the pies pies are made and donated by the local community.
Of course, that’s not all. There’s German beer on draft, but you don’t have to be a drinker to have fun. Try the Beer Stein Holding Contest. Rules? Simple: see how long you can hold a full beer stein straight out without spilling the beer or touching the arm bar (see photo). The person who holds the stein the longest by the end of the night is the winner.
Enter your own homemade wine into the Wine Tasting Contest or be one of the judges by sipping samples of the different wines.
Here’s a video of the 2010 event:
(Photo courtesy of Oldenburg Freudenfest; video courtesy of Chris Munchel)
