The long standing tradition of Oktoberfest goes back over 200 years. When King Ludwig was married to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810, the citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to celebrate the happy Royal event. To end the celebrations from the royal wedding on October 17, horse races, presumably thought to have been a repetition of the Scharlachrennen (Scarlet Race), which took place in the 15th century in front of the Karlstor and was part of the Jakobidult, were held in honor of the newlyweds. The decision to repeat the horse races in the subsequent year gave rise to the tradition of the Oktoberfest.
Now, in 2015, there wasn’t any horseracing to be found but on Saturday October 17th, the MPP room of the Chestermere Regional Recreation Centre was all decked out to celebrate this historic festival.
The CWL (Catholic Women’s League), does remarkable things in our community always in the service of others, and always throw a great party. The Knights of Columbus also pitched in helping with the delicious authentic German food.
Back by popular demand was the talented Brabec Brothers Oktoberfest Band. Always a crowd favourite they kept everyone dancing and entertained into the night.
Although it was noticed that ticket sales were down this year, the crowd that did come out and was happy to support the Catholic Women’s League as proceeds from their events are always used for very worthy causes in our community. It is unknown at this time how much money was raised at the event, but it is not doubt that the CWL will do amazing things with it.
