A little rain, a lot of beer: Bathurst does Oktoberfest its own way

A little rain, a lot of beer: Bathurst does Oktoberfest its own way By Eric Sibiya Bathurst has to be one of the most interesting little towns in the Eastern Cape. The artsy town always seems to have something going on and, last Saturday, it was beer, German food, live music and a little rain as Oktoberfest took over. The smell of beer greeted us as we came into town on a chilly Saturday afternoon. The weather clearly had other plans for Oktoberfest, with rain here and there, but Bathurst wasn’t going to let that ruin the party. Oktoberfest traces its roots to Munich, Germany, where the first celebration was held in 1810. More than 200 years later, the beer-centred festivities have spread around the world and, this weekend, Bathurst gave it its own Eastern Cape spin. Restaurants around town joined in with German-inspired food. At the Historic Pig and Whistle Inn, the menu featured eisbein, sauerkraut, Kassler chops and chicken schnitzel, while Lara’s Eatery offered everything from German sausage pretzel rolls to pork schnitzel and apple strudel. I won’t pretend I knew exactly what a Kassler chop was before Saturday, but apparently Oktoberfest can be educational too. The real party, though, was in the Pig and Whistle’s beer garden. The Survivals Band took over the afternoon. Only four members were performing instead of the full band, but nobody appeared to have told them they were understaffed. They delivered their own renditions of songs including Bernice West’s Lyfie, Ben E King’s Stand by Me and The Temptations’ Lady Soul. And people danced. Not the little two-step where you’re still pretending you’re just standing next to your table. People were properly on their feet. At some point during Oktoberfest, chairs apparently became decorative. People had travelled from Makhanda, Port Alfred, Kenton-on-Sea and other nearby towns for the festivities. Now, I don’t drink alcohol myself, which is admittedly a questionable qualification to bring to a beer festival. So I can’t tell you whether the beer was exceptional or give you some sophisticated explanation about its “notes”. My review of the beer is based entirely on facial expressions, and the evidence looked overwhelmingly positive. Besides, how do you know people are really enjoying a beer festival? Perhaps it’s when conversations start turning into stories from their youth, including some that probably would have remained safely tucked away before the first few beers. By late afternoon, some stories had reached the category of things I suspect were not meant for publication. As a journalist, I exercised restraint. Even the cold and occasional rain eventually became part of the experience. There was something amusing about watching people order ice-cold beer while the Eastern Cape weather was practically suggesting tea. But that was perhaps the best thing about Bathurst’s Oktoberfest. It didn’t try too hard to be Munich. It was unmistakably Bathurst: German food, local musicians, familiar songs, people from neighbouring towns and plenty of beer. The turnout was impressive; the music kept people moving and, despite the weather, the beer garden remained alive. Bathurst didn’t recreate Munich, and it didn’t need to. Munich probably doesn’t have a beer garden full of South Africans dancing to Lyfie anyway.