CULLMAN, Ala. — With German roots and Bible Belt values, the north Alabama town of Cullman marked Oktoberfest for decades with oompah music, lederhosen and bratwurst, but no beer. Now the party long billed as the world's only dry Oktoberfest is finally going wet.
Organizers tapped a keg for the first time Monday at Cullman's Oktoberfest, ending an autumn prohibition in a town of 14,000 that had banned alcohol sales outright until church leaders lost that fight last fall.
Hundreds of people sipped beer and cheered at a stein-hoisting contest Monday night. A blocked-off downtown street was full of people enjoying $4 drafts; a few men wore traditional German pants and socks; couples washed down bratwurst and spicy pretzels with brew.
In a compromise aimed partly at helping ease the concerns of townspeople who worried about adding booze to the party, there was still an alcohol-free side to the celebration located about 50 yards away under a big, open shed. There, children did "The Chicken Dance" and cans of Pepsi sat on mostly empty tables; the crowd on the dry side was less than half as large as the crowd on the wet side.
The chairman of the Oktoberfest committee, Ernest Hauk, expects the entire event to only get bigger now that there's a biergarten.
"I think once people get over being worried about who's going to see them drinking ... it will just grow and grow," said Hauk.
The city had its first Oktoberfest in 1977, when a church staged the event for its 100th anniversary celebration, but beer was always verboten because alcohol sales were illegal in Cullman County. In place of alcohol, revelers drank root beer and organizers came up with their own sparkling apple cider, Oktoberzest.
Finally able to have a drink at Oktoberfest, Jason Hicks enjoyed a beer with his wife Ashley as German music played in the background. "Before it was just two old guys dancing," said Hicks, 30. "It's not about the beer now, but it adds something."
