 Oktoberfest, a festival that is held in many countries, is a nearly 200-year-old German tradition. It began in October of 1810 in Munich, Germany with the wedding party of Crown Prince Ludwig, later known as King Ludwig I, and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. They graciously invited the citizens of Munich to their wedding reception celebration. Lasting an impressive 16 days, it inspired the idea to repeat a similar festival at the same time the following year and every year thereafter. Today in Munich, Oktoberfest takes place in mid-September to early October and lasts 17 days, ending on German Unity Day, October 3. It is the world’s largest fair, boasting an attendance of six million people each year. The countries that model this wonderful celebration are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, and United States. The largest Oktoberfest outside Germany is in Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada with 700,000 plus attendees. There, a nationally televised parade is held during Oktoberfest on their Thanksgiving Day. At Oktoberfest, visitors take part in hearty German cuisine and famous types of beer, appropriately called “Oktoberfestbiers,” which are served in oversized glass mugs called “biersteins.” The dishes include sausage, chicken, cheese noodles, ox tail, and sauerkraut, which literally translates to “sour cabbage,” a finely shredded cabbage that has been fermented. All of the food and drink is served in huge tents that hold thousands of people. One of the tents seats over 8,000 guests simultaneously! In a recent year, approximately 439,000 sausages, 460,000 roasted chickens, and 102 roasted oxen were served! Other countries have added their own flavor to the Oktoberfest celebration. In Mexico City, Mexico, the German and German-Mexican population have amusement park rides and a craft fair. In Blumenau, Brazil, 18 days of music and dance allow the Brazilians to pay their respect to all their ancestors who came from Germany. In the United States, 28 cities hold Oktoberfest festivals. The state of Wisconsin, which has a large German population, has four festivals. In Taiwan, this German cultural affair is very new. In fact, it has only now begun to creep into Taiwanese society by way of German-owned businesses in the city of Taipei, who jointly held an Oktoberfest for 16 days in October, 2008. All who participated learned a lot about this custom from their German neighbors and hope that they will continue the annual festival fun for years to come. 許多國家都會舉辦啤酒節，在德國已維持有將近兩百年的傳統。啤酒節始於1810 年10 月於德國慕尼黑市，當時路德維希王子（後成為路德維希國王一世）與泰瑞莎公主在此舉行結婚派對，他們親切地邀請慕尼黑市民參加他們的結婚慶祝宴會。這場宴會連續舉行了16 天，啟發了大家每年在同一時間舉行同樣活動的想法。 現今，慕尼黑的啤酒節是在九月中到十月初舉行，為期17 天，慶祝活動會在10 月3 日德國統一日結束。這是全世界規模最盛大的活動，每年吸引了六百萬人參加。阿根廷、澳洲、巴西、加拿大、智利、墨西哥、祕魯、菲律賓和美國，都仿效這個精采的節慶。除了德國外，規模最大的啤酒節在加拿大基奇納滑鐵盧市舉行，共有超過70 萬人參加。當地的電視並轉播在啤酒節期間舉辦的感恩節遊行活動。 在啤酒節中，遊客能夠享受到豐盛的德國菜餚和各種有名的啤酒。德國啤酒節期間的啤酒稱為Oktoberfestbiers，會裝在一種叫作biersteins 的超大啤酒杯中。菜餚包括臘腸、雞肉、起司麵、牛尾和德國泡菜（sauerkraut）。sauerkraut 按照字面上翻譯是「酸高麗菜」，是一種發酵的高麗菜絲。 所有的食物和飲料都供應在數座可容納數千人的大帳篷中。其中一座帳篷甚至可容納八千多人！在最近的這一年活動中，總共供應了約43.9萬條臘腸、46 萬隻烤雞和102 隻烤牛！ 其他國家啤酒節的慶祝活動也各自增添了家鄉的風味。在墨西哥的墨西哥市，德國人和德裔墨西哥人會享受遊樂園設施和手工藝品市集的樂趣。在巴西的布魯梅瑙市，巴西人藉由為期18 天的音樂和舞蹈活動，向那些從德國遠渡而來的祖先致敬。美國共有28 座城市歡慶德國啤酒節，在德國後裔眾多的威斯康辛州就有四場慶祝活動。 這個德國文化節慶對台灣人來說很陌生。事實上，2008 年10 月，透過幾家位於台北市的德國外商公司聯合舉辦的一場為期16 天的啤酒節活動，現在才在台灣社會中開始慢慢成形。所有參加者都能從德國同伴的身上學到和這個習俗有關的知識，也希望在接下來的每一年，這個有趣的活動能夠持續舉行。 |
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