Oktoberfest Delights Square Visitors

Harvard Square's Oktoberfest yesterday wasn't exactly Munich, but still served up music, food and street performers for the 50,000 revelers.

Even Mother Nature helped with Cambridge's 22nd annual version of the traditionally beer and sausage laden German festival.

"We've been blessed with the most unbelievable weather known to New England," said event organizer Robin Lapidus, the executive director of the Harvard Square Business Association. "This makes up for the rain delay we had to call for last year's Oktoberfest."

One thing the Square's Oktoberfest is not is authentic or traditional, unless Peruvian music and Tibetan food qualify as German customs.

"We should call it Internationalfest, not Oktoberfest," quipped Raymond Ost, owner of Sandrine's Bistro.

This multi-cultural feel, however, was anything but inadvertent.

"Oktoberfest reflects Cambridge's diverse population through its choice of programs, vendors, and music...to be a purely German event would not be as enticing to the community," said Vanessa Trien, events and exhibitions coordinator for Harvard's Holyoke Center.

But there was no lack of Oktoberfest mainstays.

The Sandrine's Bistro stand sold 75 pounds of sauerkraut and more than 500 sausages. John Harvard's Brewhouse and Au Bon Pain also sponsored a Beer Garden in front of the Holyoke Center that served up Kolsch, a German light beer, and a special Oktoberfest brew.

The Harvard University Police Department checked IDs to maintain what Lapidus described as "...a relaxed atmosphere," which differed from the first few years of Oktoberfest, when the ambience created by a slightly more bibulous crowd was not quite so serene.

This year, the festival was largely a family affair, with numerous activities for the kids. On the main stage in front of the Holyoke Center, John Bonaparte '81, a.k.a. "Bonapart the Magician" performed. On Garden Street, there was an inflatable carnival where kids climbed the rock pillar and bounced around in the Moon Walk while at the Strong Man Hammer Swing their middle-aged fathers rolled up their sleeves and flexed long-dormant muscles.

Jim and Cathy Rafferty and their four-and-a-half year old twins, Kelly and Mike, of Cambridge were one of the many local families out for the day.

"It's a nice family atmosphere," said Jim Rafferty, a lawyer who represents a number of local establishments including The Grille. An ice cream-smudged Kelly Rafferty held bear-shaped balloon in her arms. She had named it Winnie the Pooh, she said. Her favorite part of the day: "Being with my daddy."

Perhaps the most popular of the many vendors was the Fruit Juice stand where gallon after gallon of free juice was given out.

Unfortunately there were not any vendors giving away free meals, or else there would have been more people like Sid Shenai '04, who said he "ate enough chicken masala to feed the entire freshman class."