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With schnitzel sandwiches in hand and a band playing in the background, more than 50 Ann Arbor community members gathered for an Oktoberfest celebration Sunday afternoon. The event was held at 319 S. Fifth Ave., a parking lot which was transformed into a communal space for the day. The traditional German celebration typically lasts 16 days and is observed globally. Several cities in Michigan, including Frankenmuth and Grand Rapids, host Oktoberfest festivities annually.
This event was organized by the Ann Arbor Bicentennial Committee and the Library Green Conservancy, a local organization that has been lobbying for a city-center green space in Ann Arbor since 2018. Following the city’s approval of Proposal A in November 2018, which required the above ground parking lot on 319 S. Fifth Ave to be available as a city commons area, LGC has worked to facilitate reservations of the space for community events.
LGC President Rita Mitchell told The Michigan Daily that she believed the Ann Arbor Oktoberfest event would show that a city-center park can be established in the lot.
“We’re just doing it right here in the center of the city,” Mitchell said. “We’re encouraging other groups to think about hosting events in this space. We want to have it be flexible so it could be used for fun runs, big game competitions like the multiple giant checkers or chess tournaments, just having people use their imagination to kind of play in this center area.”
Mitchell said the organization chose to host an Oktoberfest event because Ann Arbor was once home to a large population of German immigrants.
“Oktoberfest is connected with Ann Arbor because Ann Arbor has a pretty strong German heritage from the early days of its establishment into the early 1900s when people from Germany came here and worked in factories and stores and developed their own businesses,” Mitchell said.
Most Oktoberfests follow the dates set by the Munich Oktoberfest, which were Sept. 21 to Oct. 6 this year. However, Jeff Crockett, head of the Bicentennial history sub-committee, told The Daily that the logistics of scheduling the event in Ann Arbor prevented them from adhering to the Munich dates.
“The catch was trying to schedule on a day that was not football Saturdays and so we did it on a Sunday because it did not interfere with football,” Crockett said. “We also have to make sure that we schedule it in advance, to make sure nothing else is scheduled.”
The event was free to the public and featured live traditional German music from Jay Fox and the Jammin’ Germans, a band based in Fort Wayne, Ind. At 2 p.m., the Jammin’ Germans were accompanied by German dance troupe Fort Wayne Tänzer. In addition to these performances, the event featured the DeutschTroit food truck, which served traditional German food and provided a free balloon-twisting service.
According to Crockett, Sunday’s event marked the city of Ann Arbor’s first celebration of the traditional German festival, organized as part of the city’s ongoing bicentennial celebration. Local restaurants and breweries, such as Arbor Brewing Company’s Oktoberfest Street Party in 2019, have previously hosted their own Oktoberfest events with beer and cider, and nearby towns like Saline held their festivals in late September.
LSA junior Tony Liu said that he felt the music at the event was more moving than other public events.
“A lot of times you hear some local bands or whatnot, or traveling bands that are kind of okay,” Liu said. “It’s never bad, but it doesn’t get you moving up and down. I mean it doesn’t get you to bop. And nothing makes you dance more than folk.”
Anne Bannister, Ann Arbor resident and former city councilmember, told The Daily she enjoyed the event and felt that it provided further support for a city center.
“I believe that a common area in the center of the city will be a big win for all of us because Ann Arbor is very expensive,” Bannister said. “So if you want to meet some friends downtown, you better be ready with your Visa card. Whereas the center of the city is a beautiful idea, where I’d love to see the diversity of people who assemble here, and (see) shows, music, political events.”
Crockett said he believes Oktoberfest served as both a space for people to come together and to connect with a part of Ann Arbor’s history.
“Events like this are to remind people that we are who we are because of the past and because of all the people who contributed to Ann Arbor,” Crockett said. “That’s why we are so passionate about the bicentennial. It is to raise awareness for the people who created this wonderful town before us.”
Daily Staff Reporter Eilene Koo can be reached at ekoo@umich.edu.
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