Following the Leder(hosen)

Like everyone else at Appleton’s Octoberfest last Saturday, we had a “guten tag” following the lederhosen through an amiable crowd.

What we especially love about this festival is its commitment to area charities and its profusion of tasty food.

College Avenue becomes a kind of open air international market during Octoberfest, with high end booths like the one hosted by Mark’s Eastside, and the firehouse chili pots stirred by firefighters. We saw Mochi hot dogs, Hmong egg rolls, Greek gyros, Mexican street tacos, Amish hand pies and good ole burgers and brats, among lots of other food vendors. Each booth is either hosted by or affiliated with a local charity.

Of course, there’s plenty of beer and live music from five different stages.

The festival draws a huge crowd and we ended up taking advantage of the Children’s Museum’s central location so our youngest group member could play in a less crowded, less noisy place and the we adults tag-teamed keeping an eye on him and enjoying all the fun outside.

As with all good festivals, the pictures tell the real story. So, while you’re making plans to attend next year’s party, please enjoy these shots of some really nice people enjoying a very cool festival.

Prost!