Six piece band and nine dancers including the burgermeister!
We Are Oktoberfest
- Thread starter Lord Robert
- Start date
Glad to hear that this isn't another mess like "Entwined" or a big disappointment out the gate like "OktoberZest". Hopefully sometime next week I'll see it in person. Sounds like we might have a really good Das Festhaus show on our hands.
I saw the show today. I really appreciated the live band, the costumes, and the scenic design. Hopefully the audio clarity will improve as the season goes on as far as the vocals are concerned.
I really enjoyed the way the show ended. It was a song choice I’ve never heard them use before that fit perfectly. On the other hand, they need to explain why they put random 60s (and maybe other eras) American music in the middle of the show. I think some of those songs might be popular at the real Oktoberfest in Munich now, but they should probably explain that if they didn’t already. It kind of reminds me of when they put John Denver in OktoberZest season one. Even so, it was still a fun scene and the audience seemed to enjoy it.
The cast was very good and I look forward to seeing how this show evolves over the season.
I really enjoyed the way the show ended. It was a song choice I’ve never heard them use before that fit perfectly. On the other hand, they need to explain why they put random 60s (and maybe other eras) American music in the middle of the show. I think some of those songs might be popular at the real Oktoberfest in Munich now, but they should probably explain that if they didn’t already. It kind of reminds me of when they put John Denver in OktoberZest season one. Even so, it was still a fun scene and the audience seemed to enjoy it.
The cast was very good and I look forward to seeing how this show evolves over the season.
I heard about that, I think that's the "celebrating 50 years with a German twist" part of the show. A friend of mine saw the show and loved it and told me that unlike "County Roads" from "OktoberZest" 1.0, the music arrangements for the modern songs feel more "German band" in order to feel like it makes sense in the shows' context. He also said that the show reminded him of "American Jukebox: Summer Remix" in the way that it is the "This is Oktoberfest!" we once loved, but with updates to it to help separate it from the original.
I'm hoping that idea works in context for "We Are Oktoberfest" and it still leads to a wonderful good show. I hope this isn't another "OktoberZest" or worse, "This is Oktoberfest!" 2011.
I'm hoping that idea works in context for "We Are Oktoberfest" and it still leads to a wonderful good show. I hope this isn't another "OktoberZest" or worse, "This is Oktoberfest!" 2011.
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
Footage starts at 6:20.
This show looks really good from the footage, it's cool that the opening still has the "Unter Dem Doppeladler". That song has always been perfect for a German beer hall; and also, is that a big chicken puppet I saw at 7:30?!
Are Sundays really a dark day for this show? The app and the online schedule has no times listed for Oktoberfest on the next several Sundays. I think that would be unfortunate.
That would be a shame but a lot of BGW shows for years do have at least one day in the week where it goes dark. So, this isn't a completely new thing the park does. Looking at the schedule it seems Sunday and Monday are when the show goes dark, which again, isn't too surprising.
Last edited:
I fully appreciate the need for a day off, but historically the shows have had their dark days on a weekday, not on a Sunday. It is surprising to have one on a Sunday when there will be more people in the park.
After looking at the summer schedule, it seems that the Sunday and Monday dark days for "We Are Oktoberfest" will stick through the shows entire run this summer. As to why this is and why the show has a weekend day off alongside a weekday off will be anyone's guess; but I will be able to see it in person either Friday or Saturday, so I guess it doesn't matter. I'm excited but also nervous for the new Das Festhaus show, from the footage I saw it looks promising and the live band and cast sound great (even the costumes which I'm warming up to), but I'll withhold judgement until I finally watch it.
But at least it won't be not another mis-matched disaster like "Entwined" was, so that's a good start.
But at least it won't be not another mis-matched disaster like "Entwined" was, so that's a good start.
The chicken puppets are from the former Illuminights show, “Wunderbarn.”
Wow... We can never escape the remnants of You-Know-Who can we? 
In all seriousness, I guess there are far worse ways to reuse things from a previous era of shows. One would suppose anyway.
In all seriousness, I guess there are far worse ways to reuse things from a previous era of shows. One would suppose anyway.
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
Well, that didn't take long for a video of the show to show up. After watching it several times, I can easily say that "We Are Oktoberfest" is everything that "OktoberZest" wished it was and more. Even the random American songs in the middle weren't exactly that bad (if ill-fitting), thanks to good singing and fun choreography. It's really nice to see a new audience participation with the "beer-stein holding contest" that was actually fun to watch and not rely on the "Chicken Dance" alone. The traditional numbers were great and perfect as usual and hearing Bob Bauman's "auf wiedersehen" was a lovely way to end the show.
Now, is it the classic "This is Oktoberfest!" we all loved from many moons ago? I wouldn't say that, but this is a good revival that is thankfully smart and sincere about the mixture of the new and old that is infamously difficult to pull off. If I had to rank the Das Festhaus shows, it would look like this:
1. "This is Oktoberfest!", which includes the brief 2013-14 comeback.
2. "We Are Oktoberfest"
3. "OktoberZest"
4. "This is Oktoberfest!" 2011, wow that was embarrassingly bad...
5. "Roll out the Barrel"
6. "Entwined"
Last edited:
Including "Country Roads" in a prior Festhaus show made sense because that is a popular song at the actual Oktoberfest, and has been for years. These other songs, on the other hand... I dunno. Time for me to return to Germany for some research, I do believe.
I absolutely love the live band. Kudos to the park for that!
I absolutely love the live band. Kudos to the park for that!
The six-piece live band were great, of course what would have made it perfect is if they had at least one trumpet player. Trumpets make anything sound grand.
Seeing it live last Saturday was wonderful, a change I did notice was the dialogue before the middle section where the modern American songs is different. It's an improvement that better explains why the middle sequence has new songs (which are not German) where "Every year Oktoberfest adapts to new eras while keeping the spirit of tradition alive" and "what happens when you mix polka and pop plus with bass". After doing research, the song "Hey Baby" during the new "Weighty Beer-Stein Holding Competition" sequence near the middle, is actually a very beloved Oktoberfest song in Germany which I didn't know about.
I still think that it's the second-best Das Festhaus show right behind "This is Oktoberfest!", and the audience are highly enjoying/loving it, so the park clearly has something special here. It will be interesting what changes the show will do for the second season, because 2026 will be the 50th anniversary of the Oktoberfest hamlet. Well, if they want to do changes to the show anyway.
I still think that it's the second-best Das Festhaus show right behind "This is Oktoberfest!", and the audience are highly enjoying/loving it, so the park clearly has something special here. It will be interesting what changes the show will do for the second season, because 2026 will be the 50th anniversary of the Oktoberfest hamlet. Well, if they want to do changes to the show anyway.
Love, love, love (!), this show!
Such a good time. Hoping they keep it around for awhile. Easily better than what has been here lately. Ton of fun!
Such a good time. Hoping they keep it around for awhile. Easily better than what has been here lately. Ton of fun!
I hope it does come back next season as well, maybe with some song changes in the middle and the addition of a trumpet player or two, "We Are Oktoberfest" might turn into a really good show to a great one!
Who knows how many times it has been said, but with next year being the Festhaus's 50th anniversary, it would make perfect sense for the return of the old stage in some capacity.
I really hope so. If not, then they can revise the current stage to look and feel like the old rising stage, just without the rising part. Currently, "We Are Oktoberfest" is my second favorite show running at BGW, right behind "Celtic Fyre" which is obvious.
Since it's entirely possible that this will comeback for the 2026 season (it is the 50th anniversary of the Oktoberfest hamlet after all), will there be any changes to the show in comparison to last year?