At Worldfest, the parents of the pupils attending the school sell food and drink as well as arts and crafts from their home countries.  With 19 countries represented, there was certainly a wide choice of things to try, from more well-known dishes such as pizza (Italy), sushi (Japan), and Bratwurst (Germany), to more exotic items like Blini and Pirozhki (Russia), Poffertjes (Netherlands) and Bulgogi (Korea).

Food at the Indian stand

The elderflower lemonade from Sweden certainly made an interesting – and refreshing – alternative to the usual type of drinks at such festivals.

With the school celebrating its 50th anniversary this year as well, the festival was particularly well visited, with alumni swelling the numbers to an estimated 3,000 visitors!  In the entrance, a selection of vintage cars were on show from the 1960s and 1970s – the early years of the school, accompanied by their owners who were happy to explain their cherished automobiles.

Amongst the first visitors were the Interior Minister of the State of Hesse, Boris Rhein, the Mayor of Oberursel Hans-Georg Brum, and with the Hessentag only a few weeks away, the Hessentagspaar (Charmaine Weisenbach and Christian Peter) were also present.  After stopping for photos at a 1961 car, they were taken on a tour of the school.

Hans-Georg Brum (left) and the Hessentagspaar (centre) in front of a 1961 Mercedes

Entertainment was provided by the pupils in the form of the FIS Jazz Band, an 8th Grade Flashmob and dances from places like India and Russia – nationalities found among the 1,700 pupils.  For the pupils themselves there were games and bouncy castles.

The FIS Jazz Band

Inside the school building the arts and crafts area offered jewellery, English books, and even oriental rugs, with the British Tea room offering a good chance to get out of the sun and enjoy some strawberries.

Inside the school

Although there was a slight drizzle at one point, the weather otherwise stayed fine.  Indeed, once the sun came out for the afternoon, it was very much the place to be for the ex-pats in the area and I saw many familiar faces.

For more information on the school (in English), visit the homepage: www.fis.edu

Click here for more photos of the Worldfest

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• New playground at the Maasgrundweiher
• The Hessentag has started
• The Hessentag Nature Trail

My only complaint is that it is so early in Advent, that for the past few years it usually rained.

Not this year though.  With temperatures around 0°C there was snow on the ground and a crisp chill in the air, making the Glühwein much more appropriate.  I believe the number of stalls had increased, too.    So many, in fact, that the local newspaper had a map in it with them all on.  In the town centre there were apparently 121 stalls!.  (That’s approximately one stall for every 350 residents).

Saturday evening the market filled up as many people braved the cold night air, occasionally warming themselves up – when not with Glühwein then in the foyer of the Rathaus or around one of the fires at the Marktplatz, where the market took on a medieval theme.

Oberursel Christmas Market

Only the participants of the crib scene in one of the side streets appeared not to be enjoying themselves.  But then, that might have had something to do with the temperature as well, although their camel did not seem to be so affected by it.

For more photos, visit our Facebook album.

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Christmas Market time!
• 10 Things to do in Frankfurt in Winter
• Two more Christmas markets

For the past year, most events in the town have had an stand selling T-shirts for the event giving out “information” about what to expect.  It’s that information that I find very lacking.  When I asked how I was meant to get to my customers at an event back in May, I was told that they didn’t have a concept for local businesses yet.

A bit late, you might think, seeing as they must have had a concept to bid for the event in the first place.

Then a few weeks ago my business received an invitation to an event taking place where people were to be honoured for their services to the town, and the “first information about the Hessentag“ would be given.

That information turned out to be nothing more than

(a) the town has planned the event with a deficit of €3 million
(b) there is an information evening on a couple of weeks
(c) many questions will not be answered until a few weeks or even days before the event itself

A particularly interesting example of (c) was how residents are going to get in and out of their properties.  I’m sure many in the town centre are delighted to know that this is going to be a list minute thing!

Anyway, feeling rather misled in that I now had to sit through 2 hours of speeches and come back another evening, I was excited to see that there was an official “Hessentag Info-Centre” in the town hall as part of the Christmas market.

Of course, I made sure to go there and ask my own personal question about getting to my customers.  “There is an information evening on 8th December at 19.30″ was the reply.

I pointed out that I was aware of that evening, but thought since there was a dedicated office I could ask there instead of sitting through a possibly uninteresting evening of other information.  “No, you’ll have to go to the information evening” they told me.

I wondered what information they had for local businesses at all?  “We don’t have any, it will all be announced at the information evening” was the answer.

I told them that I didn’t see the point of an Info-Centre, if that was all the information that they had.  In fact, they might as well just have hung up a sign on the door with the appointment on it, rather than getting (paying even?) two people to sit there and just send people away again.

The mayor of Oberursel has said that he wants to get everyone on-side and involved in the event.  I don’t think this is the right way to go about it.  In fact, I’d probably close the business down for a week and go on holiday, except that even that’s not possible, as for some reason the whole thing takes place during term time!

Don’t even think about asking how children are meant to get to school…

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Last words on the Hessentag
• Hessentag 2012 in Wetzlar
• Jutta W. Thomasius at the Hessentag

Oktoberfest

1. The festival is held in Munich on the Theresienwiese and is known locally as the ‘Wiesn’.  The nearest U-Bahn station is also called Theresienwiese.

2. It starts on the first Saturday after 15th September, and continues until the first Sunday in October.  If the first Sunday is the 1st or the 2nd, the festival is extended to 3rd October as this is a public holiday.

3. The marquees on the fairground where the beer is served get very full.  To reserve a place in some of them you need to buy vouchers for food and drink in advance.  The minimum is currently €26.80 per visitor.

4. The hotels in Munich are very full at this time.  In fact, many visitors will have booked their rooms a year in advance, meaning that you need to arrange your accommodation as soon as possible to avoid being left without a roof over your head!  Expect to pay premium prices.

5. Smoking is prohibited in the marquees. As the numbers allowed in them are limited, smokers who go outside may find they cannot return to their seats.

6. The beer is served in a glass called a Maß which holds 1 litre and is slightly stronger than is usually served in Munich.  One litre costs between €8.30 and €8.90 (in 2010).

7. Glasses are much sought-after souvenirs, but are the property of the respective landlord.  Security guards at the entrance to each marquee are instructed to watch out for people taking them.  Being caught with one often ends if a charge of theft.  (It is possible to buy one, which is then labelled to show it has been paid for).

8. Soft drinks are almost as expensive as the beer.  A litre of water costs on average €7.30, a litre of Spezi will cost you around €7.90.

9. Food served in the marquees is usually more expensive than that sold at stands on other parts of the fairground.  Half a roasted chicken will set you back about €8, just on its own.  Generally the food served is traditional Bavarian fare.

10. The landlords are allowed to charge their guests for the use of the toilets!

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Truly German – Episode 04 – 18th September 2009

I won’t comment on the politics of the Hessentag at this stage, or what this will mean for residents and business owners next summer.  However, the first “side-effect” has already taken place.  It was called the “Landeskindertrachtentreffen”.

Roughly translated that means the “state childrens’ traditional dress festival”.

Now, Oberursel may be well known for several things such as its fountains and cider, but I’ve never really known it to have a traditional way to dress.  That’s the sort of thing that’s usually left to areas like Bavaria.

And yet they still hosted the childrens’ festival this year.  Why?  Because as far as I am informed, the town hosting the Hessentag must host the childrens’ festival the previous year.  So Oberursel did not have much choice.  If you want the Hessentag to come to your town, you have to accept the Landeskindertrachtentreffen as well.

That’s pretty much the way I experienced people talking about it beforehand – like a “duty” that had to be performed.  After all, how many children in Oberursel have “traditional costumes” to wear?

Well, on the day there were a number of appropriately dressed groups in the town, although I was not aware of any from Oberursel.  They came from different parts of the state, and I suspect they do the same thing each year at the chosen location.

In fact, the whole Trachtentreffen was rather low key in my opinion.  On the other hand, in the roads leading off from the square where it was held there were plenty of things for children to do.  They could learn to juggle, walk on stilts, or just play and have fun with the games and activities that had been laid on.

Activities for children in the Holzweg

The weather was good as well, so in the end of was a pleasant day out, despite the tongue-twister name!

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Last words on the Hessentag
• Hessentag 2012 in Wetzlar
• Jutta W. Thomasius at the Hessentag