German American Fest

nicht Ausgezeichnet, nur gut.
Translated into English: «meh».
I’m born and bred in Milwaukee, the most German city in the USA, or at least it once was. The German heritage and culture is very strong where I am from. Since Chicago is so much bigger, I was expecting great things. Compared to what we have in Milwaukee, GA Fest in Chicago is no more than a street festival. There is a great parade, the Von Steuben parade, better known as the Ferris Bueller parade. There is a big tent and two stages, so the entertainment is pretty good. They have HB beers, so I was happy on that front. There is a midway-​style games area which sucked my in a drained my wallet. The games area was nice because it give the kiddos something to do whilst mutter und vater get schwasted in the big tent. I was very disappointed that there was no spanferkel (spit-​roasted chicken) and no gebratenes Hunchen (roasted chicken). I just don’t think it’s right to have a German festival without them.
I guess for Chicago, this is OK. It’s the best they can do. If you really want to celebrate Oktoberfest, head 90 miles north on I94 and come up to Milwaukee. We’ll show you how it’s done.

This was my first time at German American Fest — my husband’s band was marching in the Von Steuben parade (aka the Ferris Bueller parade) so his group chartered a bus down. It sounds like the fest attracts 40 – 50,000 people over a 3-​day span so expect crowds, especially later in the day.
Parade: 4.5 stars
Okay, I’ll admit that my perception is rather skewed because we just arrived in Chi and were asked if we wanted to ride on top of one of the vintage fire trucks in the parade. UMMMMM YES PLEASE! So I didn’t get to see the parade but I did get to ride on a fire truck with a giant stein of beer in my hand and wave to all of the lovely spectators. It was pretty awesome, not going to lie. I will say that they could stand to condense the route though as the crowds in the middle were pretty sparse. If you are/​have kids, make sure they bring bags as many floats toss candy.
Fest: 3 stars
As many other people have noted, there’s not a huge amount of super «German» things here. Sure, you can get a (dry) pretzel, or some sausages. Beer is available in liters for $ 12 which isn’t really that bad. Lots of «carnival» games and stuff you’d see at just about any State Fair though. On the plus side, lots of PortOJohns and as a bonus, they were pretty clean. The actual fest area gets super packed so it’s not a bad idea to step out for some food from one of the many nearby eateries.

Well they did make more almond crème cakes this year, Or there was a better abundance of them. The ever-​so-​entertaining Ein Prosit is often sung as well. The games and/​or prizes are still fun. They should have had the pickled herring sandwiches this year again…

This is still the best fest around. People seem to really have fun here. Yes, it’s crowded but the venue is tight. The beer is actually a good deal for such a huge stein. Watch out — it’s easy to get sloppy fast! Good combination of different groups of people with the families tapering off and the young drunks increasing towards closing. Go to this fest!

The food offerings were fairly good. I had high expectations for this festival and was hoping for more options. We enjoyed several delectable goodies. We tried the Westfalisches Schinkenbrot which was excellent (smoked westphalian ham served on really good rye bread — I think it was rye). It was tender and tasty. We rated the westphalian with 4-​stars. We also tried the Deutsche bratwurst (German pork and veal bratwurst) which we really enjoyed. It was incredibly flavorful, juicy and and surprisingly 5-​star worthy! The wiener wurst was worthy of 4-​stars, and made with pork, beef and veal. I guess it is their version of a «German» hot dog. We liked the fact that the festival was not very crowded when we stopped by on Sunday afternoon. We really didn’t struggle to find a legal parking spot in the area. We thought it was going to be a challenge to find parking, but this was not the case. Yes, we had to walk a few blocks, but it was a beautiful, sunny day and we enjoyed the walk in the neighborhood. The people working at the festival were very hospitable and kind. Es sind sehr gute Leute. There were some food items that we weren’t sure «what» it was, so we asked. Amazingly, they not only explained «what» it was but they actually gave us a small free sample to taste. We liked what we tasted. Es war einfach prima! We ended up getting a few other food items that we otherwise would not have purchased had it not been for the small free samples. Es gab tolles Essen! Dankeschön. We appreciated the kind gesture from these vendors. Again, Dankeschön! Höchst beeindruckend. My husband really enjoyed the German beer (he had two different kind). He mentioned the beer was as good as the beer he had in Germany (we were in Germany two years ago).
It was our first experience at this festival. We had an enjoyable and fun afternoon. We saw people dressed up in beautiful and colorful Dirndl dresses (women) and Lederhose (men). The music is very old-​world but it made the festival authentic. People (the «older» crowd and a few younger ones) were dancing. It was nice to see so many people having a fun time dancing — I think a few of them were a bit afloat with several beers — but everyone was well behaved. When I think of a German festival I automatically think of October Fest (Oktoberfest), but this festival is in September, strangely enough. I am glad that we attended this festival, but it was a more «mature» crowd. I am not sure that I would return again next year. We’ll see!

Cute little festival. We went on a Sunday afternoon so it wasn’t hopping, but it was nice that it wasn’t too crowded. We didn’t try the food but the guys had beer. There were only two options for beer: PBR and Hofbrau. We were expecting more German beer options, at least a dark and a light choice. It also would have been nice if the plastic souvenir beer stein had the festival name/​date instead of the logo for the United German American Societies of Greater Chicago.

I have been going to this festival for years. The last several years it has started to become drinking amateur hour (s) for young people and yuppies that care nothing about German heritage. If you want to avoid this leave before the sun goes down. They only show up at night.
The best day to go is the day that they hold the Von Steuben parade. Lots of old folks attend that day and many of them are very talkative and nice.

Best summed up as… EAT, SHIT, LEAVE. I live in the area so I feel obligated to go. Everything is overpriced. I did enjoy the carnies and the guy selling knock off designer sun glasses. Didn’t enjoy the brats, I always have a different idea of Germany having grown up in Sconsin.

This event is a frathouse showcase for badly behaved, drunk college students. Filthy, loud, and spills out onto and blocks the traffic on Western.

Now that this is right around the corner from me, my fear of having to use Portapotties at street festivals is not an issue at this one. Yay!
— You have to buy tickets in order to get food or beer. $ 1 = 1 ticket.
— The ticket sales people are really nice.
— The food sales people are really nice too.
— The selection is so-​so. The 3 large food areas all have the same thing: 2 kinds of sausage (in sandwich or dinner form), meatloaf (in sandwich or dinner form), a herring sandwich (I am so intrigued! I may try this tomorrow), pretzel, Landjaegar pair (a pair of small little smoked salami-​esque things), and cake. Tonight I had the bratwurst sandwich and 2 types of cake (an almond-​cream bienenstich and an apple cake — tomorrow, I try the plum). I just really wish they had schnitzel.
— The beer selection is awful. You are either drinking PBR (yes, Pabst Blue Ribbon. AT A GERMAN FESTIVAL) or Hofbrau. I really wished that they had a weisse beer available. 12 tickets for a large stein, and 10 for refills.
— The worst is that there are people smoking all over the place. I was there for less than an hour and my throat hurts.
I’ll probably go back tomorrow to try the meatloaf, herring, and plum cake. Then peace out and drink better adult beverages elsewhere.

Celibate your Germaness thought $ 12 for a Stein of beer is a little much.

If you like a tasty beer and live in the area, this is a great event to go to in September. It is right in Lincoln Square. For $ 10 you get a huge German Fest mug filled with German beer. They sell all sorts of sausages and other authentic German food (you can smell it from a mile away…) I split half of a piece of chocolate cake with a friend, and it was surprisingly delicious! They have live music, and plenty of families with children attend (despite the fact most of the crowd is half-​drunk). They also have some fun carnival games if you’re looking to win a Spongebob Squarepants the size of your bed.

I love this fest, I attend every year, lots of fun, liters of beer, sausage, polkas, good stuff.

The German American Fest is a hot mess. When I first attended this event in College, I thought it was fun to watch a group of grown adults act like a bunch of Horny, frat boys, now it’s kind of pathetic.
The German American Fest offers over priced Beer, over priced, greasy food and debauchery beyond words. The people watching was the most interesting part of the night. I witnessed some crazy Aryan guy in a Robin Hood hat trying to pick up girls. He called his hat the friend maker. There was a 60-​something drunkard who was trying to look up Mrs. Bavaria’s dress. And to top it off there was a woman who brought her dog to the fest. She was so tanked out of her mind that she ended up falling over her dog. She almost hurt the poor pup.
After drinking two mugs of beer the size of Montana, I decided I had enough of the wasted Aryan wannabe’s and Lincoln Square Mommies who were using their baby strollers as battering rams. The G.A.F. was the same as I remembered it from 20 years ago. It has the same vibe, the same German, Ooompah band playing John Denver music and the same people falling over each other. I love Street fairs and I enjoy downing a few cold one’s, but this fest just isn’t my scene anymore.

Every once in awhile I need a nice reminder of my German roots. Honestly this fest really isn’t that time, but it was a nice intro, wasn’t it?
While it’s not quite like the Oktoberfest in Germany, I imagine, it’s still fun nonetheless. They key is to stand outside the crowds for the first large plastic stein. Once you have a nice buzz going then make your way into the crowds. Only at that point can you handle people bumping into you and spilling large quantities of beer on you. Ok, maybe that’s just my strategy.
Once you’re in the crowd it’s pretty easy to meet some people, because the overall atmosphere is just friendly and fun. It may have helped to have the band in lederhosen (I know I spelled that wrong) and playing completely non-​German songs.
At the end of the night, make sure you snag a brat meal, which includes kraut and German potato salad. Yum-​a-​licious. It helped to soak up the two steins of beer and let me leave feeling a little more German.

2010 Update: This year, I was able to take the boyfriend TO the festival. His reaction was, well, priceless. First, he saw all of the bright coloured felt hats with the feathers poking out. Up went the eyebrows. Then he heard a polka band… we walked on. Quickly. The foods, he observed, were mostly authentic. As was the beer — he was very pleasantly surprised to see a certain brand that is locally brewed near his town at the fest. Can’t think of the name of the beer offhand, sorry.
Oh! The clothing. Here’s what he said: «Definitely not quite German. Well kind of. But other things too. Bavarian, Austrian, and such. Imagine if you came to Germany and someone told you they were wearing an ‘authentic American football uniform’ but they were wearing a football jersey with a baseball glove, basketball shorts and ice skates. It looks like that.»
LOLs!

This is a decent fest but not great, the reason being there is not a whole lot of ethnic German things. Yeah, you’ll see some lederhosen, they usually offer a German beer, and there’s brats, but that’s just enough to make you think you’re in Milwaukee. Maybe my expectations were too high, hoping for Wagnerian Valkyrie, bodice clad beer serving girls and some good old fashion goose stepping. But you do get a nifty, souvenir plastic beer stein, available in two sizes. I hope in the future they offer a boot version of the stein, now that will help you get your German on. Oh, the corresponding parade down Western Ave. on Saturday is fun.

Ode to German Beer — Even thought you give me a slight hangover (well actually a big hangover) the day after, I still enjoy you. We brought our own cups (since we’re frequent flyers when it comes to German Festivals, with two each year), and not only saved the environment but a few dollars each.
Lederhosen a-​plenty, feathered-​caps, German soccer jerseys (I guess for those sans-​hosen), and lots of German music and chanting (I swear they’re saying «Tina Turner») made for a rowdy and all-​around good time.
Note: Technically, LaBatts blue shouldn’t be considered a «Domestic» beer.
Enjoy. Head over and revel in the ethnic heritage. Complete with festival games and plenty of bathrooms!

So this was the 88^th Annual German American Festival. I missed out on the Van Stuben Parade, but I did make it for the music and dancing. This fest could have scored more points if it offered more German style food and more German sweets. Gets a three for at least having good tasting brawts and sausage and tasty desserts from Edelweiss. Next Year I’ll have to make it for the parade. If you missed out this, just look at the name of the fest and realize that it will be back again next year.
Major Bonus Points for the Souvenir mug and the fact that the event was free.
Just a side note… Best german fest I’ve ever been to is Wurstfest in New Braunfels, TX.