Sleepy Austrian village wakes up with annual beer fest, complete with dirndls and oom-pah-pah.
Dirndls, lederhosen, an oom-pah-pah band and beer: It doesn’t get more traditional than this when the sleepy Austrian village of Altaussee wakes up for a nonstop beer party, Sept. 4-6.
The annual three-day beer fest is sometimes described as a more intimate and less commercial version of Germany’s Oktoberfest. It marks its 50th anniversary this year in Altaussee, a quaint hamlet located 186 miles (300 kilometers) west of Vienna.
Showing up in traditional garb is a must. So if you’ve ever wanted to don an Austrian dirndl or lounge around in lederhosen and knee socks for a few days — this is your chance.
Organized by the local fire department, the annual beer fest draws both droves of locals and a large crowd from the Austrian capital.
It was with one of these Viennese groups that I decided to make the trip last year.
Within minutes of our arrival, the owner of the inn we stayed at welcomed us with a hearty “Griass eich!” (an informal greeting in the local dialect). We had entered another world where talk revolved not around politics or the financial crisis but about the strength of the local schnapps.
The epicenter of the event is the so-called beer tent (”Bierzelt” in German) crammed with wooden benches, tables and counters selling sausages, roast chicken and, of course, beer. From a stage in the center, bands pump out “oom-pah-pah” tunes that, in the early hours of Sunday morning, oddly enough included an Austrian rendition of “The Final Countdown.” A small fairground lies to one side the tent, complete with rides and stalls selling sweets and gingerbread hearts.
As the tent fills up to maximum capacity, you might consider securing a spot at the Wirtschaft Altaussee, an inn a stone’s throw away where, as the night wears on, patrons are known to dance on tables to Austrian and German pop songs. Or for a more formal dinner, try the restaurant at the Gasthof zum Hirschen where we spotted Hannes Androsch, a well-known entrepreneur and former Austrian finance minister.
By VERONIKA OLEKSYN
Young women arrive in their traditional Dirndl dresses during a beer fest in Altaussee, Austria, Sept. 7, 2009. Each year at the start of September, the sleepy hamlet of Altaussee about 300 kilometers (186 miles) west of Vienna turns into a nonstop beer fest some describe as the Alpine republic's more intimate and less commercial version of Germany's Oktoberfest.
