Oktoberfest Party: Apartment Dwellers Guide to Planning

The fall season brings about the time to celebrate the rich German history of Oktoberfest. If you're not fortunate enough to live in a place that honors the tradition, you can always organize your own Oktoberfest. Don't let the close quarters and confined spaces of apartment or condo living put a squeeze on your aspirations because with a little planning and imagination, you can turn your flat into your very own Oktoberfest.

BIERGARTEN ON THE BALCONY

Do you have a balcony, deck or backyard? Then you have a great place for an outdoor biergarten. You can beg or borrow (but not steal) some of those cheesy plastic patio tables and chairs that all of the "authentic" biergartens have. String up a few lines of Christmas lights as well as streamers to add to the Oktoberfest party atmosphere and download some authentic Bavarian (accordion) music available here to complete the scene. Make sure that there's as much seating as possible in the space available as the biergarten will soon become the popular hangout. If you pack in your guests, tell them that it's more "authentic" that way.

FOOD

Try to choose a location close to the kitchen to serve your food "buffet" style. Push the kitchen table against the wall, dress it up with a tablecloth and break out some styra-foam plates and plastic utensils (it's a quick and easy clean up). For a quick and easy menu, serve:

Smoked or grilled bratwursts
Beer cooked knackwursts
Potato cakes
Soft pretzels
Potato salad
Sauerkraut
German Chocolate cake

You can also ask your guests if they want to bring some authentic German side dishes to ease the burden of your preparation.

BEVERAGES

What would an Oktoberfest be without beer? Be sure to stock up on a large sampling of import beers for your "drinking age" guests. Beer always tastes better from a frosty mug or stein so encourage your guests to bring their favorite drinking mug. You can even have a beer tasting event to choose the best ale of the party. Be sure to serve non-alcoholic "grog" made of fruit punch and club soda as well as softdrinks for the designated drivers or children. If you're going to have children at the party, you can keep them included in the festivities by stocking several brands of root beer for a tasting event of their own.

DECORATIONS

Decorate your flat with beer mugs, steins, a coo-coo clock and streamers. Now is the time to break out your lighted beer signs and bar posters from your younger days to liven up the party. Spend a few dollars buying some decorations here. Don't forget to hand out yodeler hats for all of the guests to wear. You can buy these at any party store or online here.

GAMES AND ENTERTAINMENT

Be sure to include some Oktoberfest games and competitions to liven up the party. Some of the competitions include:

Chicken dance competition. You will need the Chicken dance song and pick a few guests to be the judges. The rest of the guests compete to see who can go the longest without making a mistake. This gets much more interesting as the song gets faster.

Stein pouring competition. See who can pour the perfect beer or root beer. Award prizes for the most amount of head and least amount of head on the mug.

A whit or a what? This is a fun game to play with kids and adults alike. You simply need two objects such as a salt shaker and a spoon. Circle the guests around and randomly pass out the items to two of the guests. Each guest holding an item passes the item to their right and says to the recipient of the object, "This is a whit.". The recipient then asks, "A what?" and the passer responds, "A whit". This continues until the guests start to confuse the "whits" with the "whats" and throw in a few "watts" as well. Each time a player makes a mistake, they're removed from the circle until only one person is left.

Source (music): http://www.goodnoise.com/album/Eddie-Hadner-Eddie-und-Freunde-Oktoberfest-MP3-Download/10863853.html
Source (decorations): http://www.partycheap.com/Oktoberfest_Decorations_s/332.htm
Source (decorations/party hats): http://www.shindigz.com/catalog.cfm?caid=717423.