Black Forest Inn, Minneapolis MN

OKTOBERFEST!

Oktoberfest began as a wedding celebration. In the fall of 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria was married. The celebration continued for two weeks and the idea of it has lasted for almost 200 years!

2012 Oktoberfest Events
(as of 9/26/12)

While most people associate Oktoberfest with lots of beer drinking, it's always been a carnival-like celebration in Germany.

There are rides and games, and Munich holds the annual poster contest (an idea we've borrowed!)

Oktoberfest menu cover contest
» view contest guidelines
» see the previous winners!

The foods that you will see on every corner at Oktoberfest include Roast or Rotisserie Chicken, Pretzels and, of course, sausages. We've got all those food and great German beer too! (check back for Oktoberfest food specials menu)

So join in the fun this fall at the Black Forest Inn! Festivities include: Grimm Night! Silent movies! Krautrock! Wagner Night! Celebrity keg tapper! Tubas! Deep fried stuff! Prizes!

» See below for details & schedule of events.

Don't forget to enter our Grand prize drawing! We have several great prizes this year, including:
Win a bike from Sunrise Cyclery!!
Prize Bike is one on display at restaurant but may be exchanged for another bike or the value of the bike can be applied to another, more expensive bike at Sunrise Cyclery.
Win a Language class of your choice at the Germanic-American Institute! Wow!
Language class is your choice of a German, Russian or Italian class, for one adult or child. Classes range from 12 to 18 weeks. Up to a $410 value!
Win a Spaten 66 qt cooler and two hooded sweatshirts! Go camping in Spaten style!
(For more information, visit: www.gai-mn.org)
Enter throughout Oktoberfest. Grand Prize drawing will be Sunday night, October 7. (Need not be present to win.)

Day One: Prost! Night
Friday September 28, 2012
The best way to start Oktoberfest is with a toast! Celebrate fall, beer, and each other with a toast. We'll have some for you to read, or make up your own. Standing up to toast is encouraged. Speaking from the heart is essential. Rhyming is optional. Prizes will be awarded for exceptional toasts.
6:00 – 7:30 pm Live music!Alphorns with the Matterhorn Trio
7:30 pm Ceremonial Keg Tapping & restaurant-wide toast: will Sven be our celebrity keg tapper again this year?
7:30 – 9:30 Toasting!
7:30 – 9:30 Hacker Pschorr samples & prizes
7:30 – 9:30 pm Live music!Horn player Jim ten Bensel & accordionist Denny Malmberg

Hacker Pschorr Night!Buy any Hacker Pschorr and get a logo mug for $1 (while supplies last!)
Poster and Menu Cover Contest winner unveiled.
Get your picture taken with the giant pretzel!

Day Two: Grimm Night
Saturday September 29, 2012
In our Forest, we've got food & beer. In other forests, magic and mystery lurk. Join us for a celebration of creatures and cures, of witches to watch out for and the monster within us. Don't forget to leave a trail of breadcrumbs so you can find your way home again…
6:00 – 8:00 pm Grimm stories, told at your table (by request)
6:30 – 9:30 pm Live Music!Dreamland Faces, an accordion and saw duo

Ayinger Night!Buy an Ayinger Oktoberfest and get a logo goblet for $1
(while supplies last!)

Day Three: Socks with Sandals Night
Sunday September 30, 2012
Release your inner German tourist! The people famous for their sensible shoes sure know how to keep their feet comfortable. We will provide socks. You will be amazed.

7:00pm – 9:00pm Free pedal pub rides (in 15 minute increments) for those who have followed the dress code for the day.

Franziskaner Night!Buy any Franziskaner and get a logo tall pilsner glass for $1 (while supplies last!)
As above, free socks.
Possible spontaneous bursts of folk songs.

Day Four: Vier Factor
Monday October 1, 2012
We'll celebrate sausages with sausage specials, mustards galore and fantastic sausage-enhancing condiments. Order the "brat bar" and choose your sausages and sides. Swim in sauerkraut. Pile your plate with pickles. Relish some relish. You deserve our best. We'll give you our wurst.

Brat bar includes: Handmade bratwurst, Handmade chicken curry sausage, Weisswurst, Polish sausage, celery relish, fried peppers, fried onions, sauerkraut, homemade Bavarian Sweet mustard, Maple mustard, Horseradish sauerkraut sauce, Curry ketchup, rye bread, potato salad, red cabbage and pickles. All that sausage goodness for $15.00

Brat Bar 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Possible spontaneous bursts of tuba playing.

Grain Belt Night!Buy any Grain Belt and get a logo pint glass free (while supplies last!)
Bring in your tuba for a free beer. Tubas are big, so we'll give you a big beer to go with it.

Day Five: Kino Abend (Movie Night)
Tuesday October 2, 2012

Silent movies. Live music. Beer.

6:00pm The movies silently begin.
8:00pm Dreamland Faces in the banquet space, with movies

Dortmunder Night!Buy any Dortmunder and get a logo stein for $1 (while supplies last!)

Day Six: Wagner Night
Wednesday October 3, 2012
Wagner was the über-est German of them all. His spectacular operas were epic like the ancient Greeks were epic, cinematic before there was any such thing as cinema, and musically so modern people fell out of their chairs when they first heard them. He was not subtle and so neither will we be.

We could fill the entire ten days with Wagner. Instead we will limit ourselves to one evening.

If you show up and sing a German aria in German, you will get a free beer!
(you might get a beer for just singing an aria in any language…)
Shatter a glass and win a Summit prize!
Come in costume and win a Black Forest t-shirt!
But by costume, we mean costume.

Summit NightBuy any Summit and get a logo glass for $1 (while supplies last!)

Glass shattering contest! Earplugs available.
Summit Prizes! Win a Summit Cribbage Party set (custom made Summit cribbage board, custom printed Summit playing cards, Two t-shirts and two hats to wear - while playing cribbage, of course.)

Day Seven: Reunification Day
Thursday October 4, 2012
This is a real German holiday – celebrating the return to one unified Germany. In honor of Reunification Day, we are helping foster other, smaller reunifications. We'll have cards and envelopes for you to address to a long lost relative, an old friend, a seldom seen neighbor or anyone else. The card says "Let's Reunify!" and enclosed is a five dollar gift certificate to the Black Forest Inn, good for one year. Plenty of time to plan your own reunification!

All day! Reunification cards available

6:00 - 8:30pm Live music!Eric Ray on accordion
7:00 – 9pm Schells beer samples & prizes
9:00pm Schells prize drawing – enter to win a free brewery tour, gas card and one night's stay at the Holiday Inn New Ulm!

Tonight we will donate 20% of our food sales to the Germanic-American Institute's Kinderstube German Immersion Preschool!
Prizes for trivia winners: gift certificates! T-shirts!
Schells Night!Buy any Schells and get a logo pint glass free (while supplies last!)
Prizes! Win a piece of the Berlin Wall!
We pushed the tables together. Get it? We re-unified them.
Benefit night for the Germanic-American Institute's Kinderstube! Today we will donate 20% of our food sales to the Kinderstube, a German immersion pre-school.

Day Eight: Berliner Night
Friday October 5, 2012
Berlin in the 20's was the capital of the Weimar Republic and was home to the artistic avant garde of Europe. As the world slowly sank into darkness, Berlin lit up the night with cabarets, concerts, performances and parties. If you have a hard time imagining Germans having that much fun, you need to come to Berliner night!

6:30 – 9:00 pm Live music!Dreamland Faces (accordion and saw duo)
8:00 – Midnight Zodiak Berlin spins Krautrock in the banquet space!

Spaten Night!Buy any Spaten and get a logo glass stein for $1 (while supplies last!)
Berliners free for dining customers (a Berliner is a jelly doughnut).

Day Nine: Freudian Slip Night
Saturday October 6, 2012
No id, no service. No ego, no strudel. Do not repress your desire to experience this night. You might see some slips!

6:30pm – 9pm Live music!Horn player Jim ten Bensel & accordionist Mark Stillman
7:00 pm The Doctor is in. Tell him about your mother.

Paulaner Night!Buy any Paulaner and get a logo glass free (while supplies last!)

Day Ten: Drain the Keg Night
Sunday October 7, 2012
We don't want to lug any barrels home with us after the party, so we're going to start dropping the price of beer at 2pm and keep dropping it until the beer is gone. Seriously.

Besides the cheap beer? What else is there?

2:00 pm – 8:00 pm Price on ½ liters of beer drops $0.25 per hour
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm Price on ½ liters of beer drops $0.50 per hour
9:00 pm Grand Prize drawing*
(*Need not be present to win)

Erdinger Night!Buy any Erdinger and get a logo tall pilsner glass for $1 (while supplies last!)

Congratulations to our 2011 Drawing winners!

Thanks to everyone who participated in last year's Oktoberfest!
See you again this year!