Charlotte's 15th Annual Oktoberfest Beer Festival: September 28, 2013
Charlotte will be observing its 15th annual Oktoberfest Beer Festival on September 28th, 2013 at a brand new venue--the NC Music Factory, which is located in the Third Ward at 1000 NC Music Factory Boulevard. VIP tickets for this popular event are already sold out. General admission tickets are still available for the hours of 2:00-6:00pm, but as the festival was sold out in previous years in advance, if you're interested in going don't put off ordering your ticket(s). Some 6,000 people are expected to attend Charlotte's 15th Annual Oktoberfest Beer Festival, making it one of the largest such beer festivals in the south east. So if you like beer... don't miss out on the festival!
About a dozen local, Charlotte brewers will be participating along with some two dozen regional brewers from North and South Carolina, as well as numerous brewers from the neighboring states of Georgia and Virginia. Numerous national and international brewers will also be participating. In other words, there's beer for every taste at Charlotte's Oktoberfest Beer Festival.
Great, live music will also be a part of Charlotte's Oktobfest Beer Festival. For more detailed information about the festival, visit Charlottes Oktoberfest Beer Festival's official website.
To ensure that you enjoy the festival, Ryan Self has put together a comprehensive "do's and don'ts list for a great Charlotte Oktoberfest" on www.CharlotteBeer.com.
And if you are a true beer connoisseur, did you know that there's actually a book that's been published, "Charlotte Beer: A History of Brewing in the Queen City (American Palate)" that you can buy on Amazon.com?
If you've wondered about the origins of Oktoberfest, here are some facts:
- The first Oktoberfest took place on October 12, 1820 in honor of the wedding between Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Sachsen-Hilburghausen. 2013 will mark the 180th such celebration.
- Oktoberfest in Bavaria (in Munich, Germany) typically begins on the second to last Saturday of September and runs through the first Sunday of October.
- Munich's Oktoberfest is thought to be the world's largest such fair with some 5 million people attending.
- All beer served at Oktoberfest in Munich, must be from one of Munich's six breweries and all beer must adhere to the Reinheitsgebot (a "purity" law) enacted in 1516 to control beer quality, standards and rules for beer brewing recipes.
- At the Munich festival, beer is served in one-liter mugs.
Charlotte has a rich German history and strong ties with Germany--one reason why Oktoberfest has become an important feature of its cultural life today. Germany is the foreign country with the greatest number of businesses located in the Charlotte region. Charlotte has some 900 international firms, with 194 of these being German-owned, employing some 10,000 people, and including 59 US headquarters. Germany is the seventh largest recipient of North Carolina exports and the second largest recipient of exports from South Carolina.
From a cultural standpoint, Germany is well represented in the Charlotte region, as well: The German-American Chamber of Commerce, the Alemannia Society of Charlotte, the Deutsche Schule and Deutsche Kirche all offer activities. Charlotte's airport offers daily non-stop flights to Frankfurt and Munich, making travel to Germany easy. I myself just connected twice through Munich in the last couple of weeks and was greeted by lots of advertising for Munich's upcoming Oktoberfest.
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