Naperville church plans Oktoberfest fun for Sept. 24
When making plans for its second annual Oktoberfest, Bethany Lutheran Church and School turned to the source: the Germans.
Last year's festival in Naperville took place the first Saturday in October, but the weather was freezing and only the warming effects of a solid lager and the hot groove of Beatles tribute band American English kept the event going, organizer Linda Fox said.
This year, Fox wanted to move the event up a week, but wondered: Is it a party foul to host an Oktoberfest in September? So she did a little research and then marked her calendar.
"I feel like if Germany does theirs in September," she said, after determining the official Oktoberfest in Munich opens Sept. 17, "it's OK for us to do ours in September, too."
Party foul averted.
Fox, who works as admission director for the church and school at 1550 Modaff Road, started building on the best of last year's chilly fun to plan a day of music, culture, German food and games.
"At our Lutheran church, we always talk about 'good worship, good fun and good Bible study,' but we keep the three of them separate," Fox said.
The same holds true for the festival.
"We don't invite people onto our campus only to blindside them with a worship service," she said. "It's just getting our neighbors onto our campus to have a good time."
Good times are set to begin at noon and last through 10 p.m. Paying adults and children 12 and older will get a wristband with their $10 ticket to exit and re-enter as they please. On the church and school's 5-acre grounds, visitors will have free reign to buy traditional German fare prepared by My Chef catering, savor some German desserts like Bundt cakes and apple strudel, explore the playground, take in some tunes or try their hand at what Fox describes as "cute kid games."
Organizers will sell game tickets for 50 cents each and charge two to four tickets for activities such as a hidden treasure search in a sand box, a bucket toss like Bozo Buckets, pony rides, bounce houses, an inflatable slide and a fishing game for prizes.
On the stage, American English will headline with its Beatles tribute show at 7 p.m., and visitors are welcome to bring lawn chairs to relax for the concert.
Before it's Beatles time, student performers from Bethany Lutheran School, as well as a pianist, violinist, xylophonist affiliated with the church and a DJ will play music from noon to 4 p.m.
One singing group sure to share its musical stylings is Schola Cantorum, a chorus of kindergarten through eighth-grade students in the style of an English choir - black binders of music in hand, red cassocks with fluffy collars as their attire, Fox said. The choir, and its plans to go on a tour, will benefit from all tips left in a tip jar to be set up during the festival.
At 4:30 p.m., local Bethany performers will turn the stage over to Ed Wagner's Lustige Blaskapelle Polka Band for some German, Austrian and Czech favorites.
Festival proceeds benefit the Bethany Lutheran Church, which draws about 500 worshippers to weekend services, and its school, which instructs 235 students from preschool through eighth grade.
If you go
What: Bethany Oktoberfest
When: Noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24
Where: Bethany Lutheran Church and School, 1550 Modaff Road, Naperville
Who: Benefits Bethany Lutheran Church and School
Cost: $10; free for kids 11 and younger
Info: <a href="http://bethanylcs.org/">bethanylcs.org</a>