Buena’s annual Oktoberfest arrived for the 25-26 school year on Oct. 16th. Students and staff gathered in the quad during lunch to celebrate German culture. Hosted by the German program, Oktoberfest brought traditions and diverse communities to Buena High School to bring together community, joy and fun.
The event featured amusing games like arm wrestling, colored-water-stein races and a pretzel toss, similar to Germany’s famous Oktoberfest. Some students even wore traditional German clothing such as lederhosen and dirndls.
Oktoberfest first began in 1810 as a wedding celebration for Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese. In the city of Munich, Germany, citizens were invited to attend the festivities, which were held on the fields outside of the city gates. These fields were later named Theresienwiese (Therese’s Fields) in honor of the princess. This celebration soon became tradition because of the annual horse races that concluded the first event, which then evolved to create Oktoberfest all over the world.
The German program worked extremely hard to bring the tradition of Oktoberfest to Buena through competitions, games, and smiles.
“I really enjoyed the colored-water stein races. I did it with my boyfriend, [and] it was really fun. It was scary to get paint on you, but I think that added to the adrenaline,” advanced German student, junior Quint Elliot said.
Much effort was put into the organization of Oktoberfest. This year, newer German students took on the responsibility and arrangement of the gathering. In just three weeks of in-class planning, the spectacular event succeeded in bringing fellowship and recognition of the German program to Buena.
“This year, German 2 took the lead. They organized [Oktoberfest], came up with the activities and voted on them,” German teacher Sabine Schafer-Mitchell said. “The newer German classes started to take over, but usually [German 3 and 4 students] would do most of the work.”
Besides the students who helped organize the event, what stood out most to Schafer-Mitchell was seeing students that she didn’t recognize want to participate and engage in games. She said moments of students with smiles on their faces, enjoying German culture, reminded her why Oktoberfest matters in the first place.
