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Location | Henry Maier Festival Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA |
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Coordinates | 43°01′55″N87°53′56″W / 43.032°N 87.899°W |
Opened | July 24, 1981 |
General manager | Eric Radue |
Theme | German Ethnic festival |
Slogan | A Milwaukee Tradition |
Website | www.germanfest.com |
German Fest is an ethnic festival in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US at the Henry Maier Festival Park, on the Lake Michigan lakefront. [1] The genesis of German Fest occurred when Mayor Henry Maier challenged the local German-American community during a speech on May 20, 1980, at the 20th anniversary of the German American National Congress (DANK) to organize a German festival. [2] Shortly thereafter, Walter Geissler, then President of D.A.N.K., chaired a committee of five members that laid the foundation for the Fest. [2] The charter of German Fest was subsequently written in January 1981. The first German Fest was held in August 1981. [3] It is billed as the "Largest German celebration in North America" [4] and "A Milwaukee Tradition". [2] It currently occurs during the last full weekend in July. [5] As of 1993, 52% of Milwaukee's population claimed German descent, which is the largest European percentage in a major U.S. metropolitan area. [1]
German Fest celebrates the culture, food, travel and history of Germany, [6] as well as Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, South Tyrol, and German-speaking communities around the world.
One attraction is the cultural tent, where one can see the various groups, including both former and current provinces that proudly call themselves "German." They range from Bavarians (Bayern), and Hessians (Hessen), to other German speaking nations such as the Austrians (Österreich), and groups displaced by World War II whose homelands are now located in Poland (Polen), Hungary (Ungarn), and the former Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia (Tschechoslowakei & Jugoslawien).
In the center area of the grounds a parade periodically passes by, showcasing 38 German-American heritage organizations, [5] local German immersion schools, and others celebrating their German heritage.
German cuisine is also featured at German Fest. [2] German restaurants and food services in the area are present at the fest, including Mader's, and the Schwabenhof, as well as the biggest sausage maker in Milwaukee, Usinger's. Usinger's celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2005, in a joint anniversary of German Fest's 25th anniversary.
Wisconsin is a state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. With a population of about 6 million and an area of about 65,500 square miles, Wisconsin is the 20th-largest state by population and the 23rd-largest by area. It has 72 counties. Its most populous city is Milwaukee; its capital and second-most populous city is Madison. Other urban areas include Green Bay, Kenosha, Racine, Eau Claire, and the Fox Cities.
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German Americans are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry.
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Kitchener–Waterloo Oktoberfest is an festival in the twin cities of Kitchener–Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Based on the original German Oktoberfest, it is billed as Canada's Greatest Bavarian Festival, and is the second-largest Oktoberfest in the world. It is held every October, starting on the Friday before Canadian Thanksgiving and running until the Saturday after. Estimates indicate that the event attracts roughly 700,000 visitors to Waterloo Region, Ontario every year.
Polish Fest is an annual ethnic festival held at the Henry Maier Festival Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was established in 1982. One of the largest Polish festivals in the United States, it attracts Polish Americans from all over Wisconsin and nearby Chicago, who come to celebrate Polish culture through music, food and entertainment.
Czech Americans, known in the 19th and early 20th century as Bohemian Americans, are citizens of the United States whose ancestry is wholly or partly originate from the Czech lands, a term which refers to the majority of the traditional lands of the Bohemian Crown, namely Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. These lands over time have been governed by a variety of states, including the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Austrian Empire, Czechoslovakia, and the Czech Republic also known by its short-form name, Czechia. Germans from the Czech lands who emigrated to the United States are usually identified as German Americans, or, more specifically, as Americans of German Bohemian descent. According to the 2000 U.S. census, there are 1,262,527 Americans of full or partial Czech descent, in addition to 441,403 persons who list their ancestry as Czechoslovak. Historical information about Czechs in America is available thanks to people such as Mila Rechcigl.
The Oktoberfest is a two-week festival held each year in Munich, Germany during late September and early October. It is attended by six million people each year and has inspired numerous similar events using the name Oktoberfest in Germany and around the world, many of which were founded by German immigrants or their descendants.
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PrideFest is an annual gay pride event held at the Henry Maier Festival Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on the second weekend of June.
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