Raffin Uberlingen
On this Southern October day the sun was shining like blue blazes, the beer was flowing and the crowd was jubilant in celebration of the 28th annual Germantown Street Festival. The circus-like grind of a raffin uberlingen (German organ) played an odd mix of comedy and creepy as I converged on “beer fest” and waded through booths and beer drinkers making my way to the closest beer line.
The beer line was a seemingly endless maze of thirsty patrons but as the luck of a fine Saturday would have it, I was sipping a Lunar Ale in about 5 minutes. My palette pleased, Oktoberfest beer stein in grip, I drifted out into the festival, the smell of beer cheese soup and sauerkraut all around me, I eyed giant sausages oozing grease and goodness, their glimmer in the corner of my eye.
As typical to festivals, we wandered the crowded streets, viewed vendor tents (mostly jewelry, clothing, knick-knacks), admired the historic (and new– !viva urban pioneers!) architecture, mingled with random acquaintances and enjoyed a wide array of music; my favorite of which being tunes from the Nashville Jazz Workshop’s “Jazz in the Shade.”
This year, the Germantown Festival expanded to cover some seven blocks and attracted what I consider to be a great crowd, kid people, dog people, beer people… they were all there and the entry was free. Perhaps it was the second beer, this time a Paulaner, perhaps it was the recess of the hot sun, but I found myself a very happy minx sipping beer on the curb and people watching the faces of our fine city.
Satisfied in mind and body we headed back to the car, bewildered to find ourselves in the middle of an authentic reenactment of a Civil-War-Era campsite, complete with confederate food rations, tents, battle flags and of course, garb. Men in grey (no blue coats in TN!) coats and women in hoop skirts glided along the Bicentennial Capitol Mall. Yes, bizarre, but also invigorating– Nashville is a buzz, I’m pleased to see our fine city embracing the cultural mecca that we have such potential to be.
There’s more to Germantown than beerfest, this historic area has much to offer…
- Nashville Farmer’s Market
- The Mad Platter
- Monell’s
- Dirty Eye Booking (they throw awesome warehouse parties!)
