So I thought I'd finally go and have a look for myself.
I had a wee taste of Kaufbeuren just prior to our Norway adventure and came away with a favourable impression along with a rather large hangover. After Norway, we drove for 24 hours straight to get back to Kaufbeuren to make it to their annual festival. This festvial is called Tanselfest and is roughly (I'm going to get corrected by a pedantic German for this) a celebration of when Kaiser Maximillian visited the city for various reasons back in the day. The cool twist is that it is all the children who dress up and man stalls throughout the town selling traditional food/trinkets/beer. The whole place basically stops and everyone has a massive party for a week. Right up our alley...
Little grommets dressed up from the middle ages. Obviously this was the wurst hut (sausage factory..)
The view out Kat's house window. (Yes it's a pub and yes it is a dangerous place to have as your neighbouring residence. Radler anyone??)
There were more bands than you could count wandering around playing amazing music - as far as I could tell, if they played music outside a pub, they got free beer. Hence there are a lot of people who are very good at playing music and really good at drinking beer...
A first hand view from said pub. Obviously we had to go there to listen to the music - To soak in the atmosphere you understand... It was also prime seating for the massive parade through the town.
Casual thousand litre tank of beer anyone?
Part of the parade
Some of the flag throwers for one of the drum bands. How cool are their outfits!
It basically goes without saying that because it was a festival, there was obviously a beer tent. Watching people parade around town all day is thirsty work. Naturally we made our way to the tent to partake in some delicious ales.
Lederhosen, check. One litre of beer, check. General hilarity about to occur? Naturally.
Half a bloody chook and a bun anybody? Just like a hangi. Except that the chicken tastes amazing and not like steamed dirt...
Deep conversations ensued. Bit intense this one by the looks.
I'll leave the photos here just before things started to get a bit messy. Mr Sam daddy Sutton and his lovely lady, our host Mrs Katharina Uhl.
As seems to be the theme of my German experiences, I just made it onto a train (literally just. I had to run to catch it and throw my bag on a'la wild west without paying) to Munich to catch a flight to Japan. Hungover. Again.
Ha - brilliant! I LOVE German festivals. They are one country that knows how to throw a good festival. Love the Leiderhosen too! How did you get away with no ticket on the train? Was the inspector angry with you or did you hide in the toilets until he went away?
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