Sittard Oktoberfeest

One of the most amazing festivals in our town of Sittard is Oktoberfeest! Although we are in the Netherlands, the Dutch love to celebrate this occasion and for six days Sittard's old town is packed with carnival rides, delicious snack stands with frites, caramel apples, ollie balls, waffles, churros, and of course, bratwurst and kartoffel. But, no Oktoberfeest is complete without the beer tents. There are three main tents, each with their own entertainment and live music each evening. Jon and I were excited that this year, the Ramstein-Cloughs would be joining in on the fun. On Friday night, we all went downtown to scope out the rides. We rode Mission Space (which hoists you 80 meters in the sky with spectacular views of the city), the Spinner Coaster, took a tour through the Rue de Paris fun-house, and the girls were able to glide atop a pool of water in massive beach balls. Despite the frigid temperatures, we had a blast and the girls couldn't wait to return again over the weekend. 

Rue de Paris Fun House

Sybil and Shannon floating in the giant beach balls

Emily, Neil and Jon with their bunny ears

Although they were freezing, Neil and Jon were determined to wear their new tuxedo shirts

We were blessed with beautiful weather over the weekend with blue skies and lots of sunshine. Saturday morning, after a trip to Thorn and its infamous pancake house, we stopped at a pumpkin patch to pick up pumpkins for the girls to carve. Aren't they splendidly evil? 

Later that night, we trekked downtown again to take part in Oktoberfeest celebrations one final time. We met up with some friends in the Erdinger tent and managed to snag a table in the exact location as last year..... right next to the band! We had a blast dancing atop the table benches to all the lively songs, hoisting our beers in the air and enjoying one last chance to fest in our dirndls and lederhosen.

The ladies after snagging our table

The gang

The Cavanaughs - they look so authentically German!

The band did not shy away from pics.... and neither do I

The guys

Our crew of ladies while the guys were out riding rides

My lederhosen-wearing man.... Rrrrrr

The packed Erdinger tent

After four hours in the tent, we left just in time to ride a couple rides before the carnival closed for the night. Honestly, as much as I love to dance and listen to the fun bands, I think my favorite part about Oktoberfeest are the super cool rides! I've always  been a fan of the carnival rides, even in the States where they're especially scary, and Sittard has the best this year I've ever experienced. Alas, after a month of Oktoberfest-ing, I'm pretty fest-ed out and am glad to be hanging up my dirndl for another year. We've truly made the most of this fantastic season and although I'm happy to be seeing it end this year, I know come next September, I'll be itching to take part in all the fun once more. Now to start thinking about Christmas markets..... it's never a dull moment around here!