By Kristine Thomas
Gervais resident Bruce Hunt tries to avoid going to festivals for his wife, Phyllis, and his company, Hunt’s Hazelnuts.
“I usually try to work behind the scenes delivering product and letting others work the counter,” he said.
But there’s one exception to his festival-avoidance stance – Mount Angel’s Wurstfest.
“Wurstfest is just plain fun,” he said.
Hunt said Wurstfest encompasses everyone in the community. He enjoys listening to local groups play Bavarian, Russian and Spanish music.
“Everybody is friendly and it’s a more intimate crowd,” Hunt said. “I like the enthusiasm of the event and the fact it includes everybody.”
Saturday, Feb. 12, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.;
Sunday, Feb. 13, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Oktoberfest Building, 500 S. Wilco Hwy.
Tickets: $10; free glass beer mug to first 2,000
Under 21 free with paid adult.
Adults only after 9 p.m.
To volunteer for the event contact Kathy Wall:
503-351-9292
The third annual Wurstfest, a Mount Angel celebration of the German sausage, is Feb. 12 and 12 at the Oktoberfest Building.
Wurstfest committee members Kathy Wall and Mary Grant said event is a fundraiser for the Mount Angel Chamber of Commerce. Proceeds will be used to purchase flower baskets, upgrade seasonal decorations, provide maintenance for the downtown fountain and the Glockenspiel, and pay for community Fourth of July and Kris Kringle activities.
Wall said this year’s Wurstfest will be the last event in the Oktoberfest Building before it is torn down to make way for construction of a new community building.
“The building holds a lot of memories for people,” Wall said, adding she has fond memories of Wurstfest food, dancing and music. She likes that Wurstfest is a family event with activities for children.
“Wurstfest is a unique festival,” Wall said. “There is the smell of the food, the activities, the arts and crafts booths, the music, the dancing and the people smiling. Wurstfest is a mid-winter mini-Oktoberfest.”
Visitors to Mount Angel have expectations when they attend a festival, Grant said, and the Mount Angel Chamber of Commerce will be ready. There will be Warsteiner beers from Germany and souvenir glass beer mugs for the first 2,000 attendees. Mount Angel Sausage will sell its famous bratwurst, bockwurst, frickadelwurst and Oktoberfest sausage that can be topped with grilled onions, sauerkraut and the Mount Angel Benedictine Sisters’ award-winning Monastery Mustard. Other German and ethnic foods will be available as well. Young folk under 21 accompanied by an adult will be admitted free, but after 9 p.m. it’s adults only.
“We encourage people to come to Wurstfest in their lederhosen or their dirndl,” Grant said. Seeing people dressed in Bavarian garb, smelling sizzling sausage and listening or dancing to spirit-lifting music makes “you feel like you are in Germany,” Wall added.
