mrfootball Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Tomball German Heritage Festival When: Saturday & Sunday, March 25th & 26th, 2006, beginning at 10am on SaturdayClick here for pictures of last year's event... Where: Tomball - centered around Walnut and Market Streets, just south of Main Street in downtown Tomball. [ Directions to Tomball ].Cost: Admission & parking is freeSee PICTURES of the event... DETAILS:Over 15,000 "Germans for a day" are expected to participate in the sixth annual Tomball German Heritage Festival, scheduled for March 25 and 26, 2006, 10am - 10pm, in Tomball, Texas. Co-Sponsored by the Downtown Tomball Merchants Association, CountryStyle Texas Magazine and the Tomball Sister City Organization, Inc., the celebration will take those in attendance back in time to the culture and festivities of Germany, which are so richly embedded in Tomball's history. Admission and parking for the festival is free, and the opening ceremony will take place Saturday morning at 10 a.m. at 200 Market Street with a German "Oompah" band. The Armed Forces Color Guard will post the American, German, and Texas flags, while the national anthems and the state song are played. At the close of the festival on Sunday, an authentic German church service will take place in German. The Tomball German Heritage Festival is a wonderful opportunity for the entire family to reconnect with their heritage or simply learn about a new culture. Children will enjoy the KinderFest section of the festival, where a petting zoo, inflatable amusements and other attractions will catch their youthful interests. Don't miss the open air market with over 50 booths of arts, crafts, a blacksmith, unique gifts, antiques, and authentic German food and beer. The German car show will also be a sight to see, featuring BMW, Volkswagon, Audi and Mercedes Benz. Everyone will have the opportunity to try their hand at Nagelschlagen ("nail hitting"), an authentic German game, where competitors attempt to drive a nail into a wooden tree stump. Contestants will compete for the Grand Prize-a trophy containing cash! Renowned German band Alpenfest will add a special flair to the festive atmosphere. Self-titled as the "Busiest German Band in Texas," this group is returning as a popular favorite and loves to involve the audience in the show. The band's instruments include 13-foot Swiss Alphorns, a glockenspiel, Austrian Cowbells, musical handsaws, and of course, yodeling vocalists. Other German bands and music makers, including German-costumed dancers, will perform throughout the weekend to round out the exciting entertainment. The Tomball German Heritage Festival will also showcase the heritage that makes this area a great place to work and live. The Community Center will house information of local families with German heritage, many of which originally settled northwest Harris, southern Montgomery and southeastern Waller counties. Posters of major German families of the area will be displayed, along with their family coat of arms, information and photographs of local descendants. Attendees are welcome to stroll through historic Tomball with the Houston Happy Hikers. This organization is sponsoring a 10km and 5km walk that will take participants from the Tomball German Heritage Festival through old downtown Tomball, then to Theis Attaway Nature Center and the Tomball Museum. This walk is sanctioned by the American Volkssport Association (AVA), which is a member of the International Federation of Popular Sports (IVV). The walk will take place on Friday, March 19 commence anytime between 9am and 12pm, but must finish by 3pm. For more information visit www.houstonhappyhikers.org, or call (979) 478-6203. Don't miss this new tradition that has become one of the city's premier festivals, with attendance in 2004 of over 10,000 "Germans for a day." Experience something local German descendants know well: the Gemutlichkeit-"a warm place in one's heart" -that results from the food, fun and fellowship of a German festival. Activities will be centered around Walnut and Market Streets, just south of Main Street in downtown Tomball. Businesses are also encouraged to get involved through the many sponsorship opportunities. For more information on the festival, visit www.tomballsistercity.org or call (281) 379-6844. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Sounds like fun. Wish I could go. Chicago used to have a German festival every year. You saw the parade from it in Ferris Beuler's Day Off. But it was cancelled last year because it couldn't get insurance. :: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfootball Posted March 25, 2006 Author Share Posted March 25, 2006 Yes, we're going to take the kids and meet some friends down there....hopefully we'll hear "Danke Schoen" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Can't wait! See you tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfootball Posted March 27, 2006 Author Share Posted March 27, 2006 (edited) Went to the German Heritage Fest...A German Heritage Festival without REAL GERMAN BEER?No Giant Pretzels???Seriously...To top it off...during requests for the band "Alpenfest" a renowned German "Oooom-pah" I ask the band to play the classic "Danke Schoen" (a la 'Ferris Buellar's Day Off" and they ____ing ridicule me for that being a Wayne Newton song...WTF?Half ass German Fest at best...The weather was terrific, though...and despite the beer and not hearing "Danke Schoen" we did have fun. Edited March 27, 2006 by mrfootball Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted March 27, 2006 Share Posted March 27, 2006 Wow, what a different experience we had... It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon. We drove into Tomball, found a parking space right next to the festival. Parked for free, admittance was free, too. We went into the big tented area and sampled bratwurst, knockwurst, sauerkraut, potato salad and potato pancakes. Washed it down with ice-cold Miller Lites. On my right were two ladies from Munich, Germany. On my left, an older couple who were on the Founder's Committee for the New Braunfels, Tx. Wurstfest. We had a great time talking with them. Then the Alpenfest group came out with their 15' Alphorn for some traditional music. After that, the older couples got up and danced or sat and sang along. We saw quite a few folks dressed up in the Leiderhosen that day, too. We took the kids on the rides, went through the funhouse, and climbed a fake rock tower. We talked to owners of vintage VW bugs out on display, next to the Segway's, which we also tried out. My kids liked the stagecoach set up by Wells Fargo, and asking the cowboy-in-charge all sorts of questions. We saw people we knew from the area, and went into the Taste of Tomball hall to check out the local fare. The food was so good that we signed up for their cookbook due out in September. There were lots of vendors outside selling all the usual things like jewelry and home decor items, plus some German-themed items. We didn't buy anything from them, but we stayed for a while at the Tomball Chamber of Commerce booths and ended up with some good maps of the area as well. All in all, we had a great time and thought Tomball did a good job. Beautiful weather, friendly people, low-cost fun for the whole family with German food, German music, even some German people. I haven't been to Wurstfest in New Braunfels in over 20 years and this festival whet my appetite to go back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrfootball Posted March 27, 2006 Author Share Posted March 27, 2006 Actually, this was more of what I was hoping for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Klein had its German Fest @ Klein Collins High School a few weeks ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pineda Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Yep, I was at that one, too. The singing and dancing were very well done, but the most interesting part of the evening was when Mrs. Allee (former Hildebrandt Intermediate School Social Studies teacher and now a docent with the Wunderlich Farm) called out all the German family names from our area, and one by one, members of those families stood up to be recognized. The Klein Collins auditorium was completely full, and I would guess that there were over 1000 people there that night with me. It was a lot of fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Yep, I was at that one, too. The singing and dancing were very well done, but the most interesting part of the evening was when Mrs. Allee (former Hildebrandt Intermediate School Social Studies teacher and now a docent with the Wunderlich Farm) called out all the German family names from our area, and one by one, members of those families stood up to be recognized. The Klein Collins auditorium was completely full, and I would guess that there were over 1000 people there that night with me. It was a lot of fun! I was there as well There was ALOT of people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 A German Heritage Festival without REAL GERMAN BEER?Get a rope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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