Duke University Union is bringing a little bit of Deutchland to Durham today with Oktoberfest, Duke’s annual version of the famed Munich festival. This year, Oktoberfest will have several features beyond those of its German counterpart, most notably a former star of MTV’s The Real World and a musical group featuring Duke alumni.
“Oktoberfest is Duke’s version of a fall carnival with German flair,” said Will Case, a graduate student in chemistry, chair of the Union’s Special Events Committee. “As a festival we bring in outside foods and crafts vendors, we’ll have live entertainment... and beer will be sold in the afternoon.”
Oktoberfest will also feature vendors from across the Southeast selling crafts and jewelry and booths serving ethnic food. The most novel aspect of this year’s Oktoberfest is that beer will be sold on food points in addition to FLEX; in other respects, this year will resemble the popular festivities of years past.
“It’s really hard to pin a number on turnout, but Oktoberfest is always well-attended,” Union President Kevin Parker said.
The attendance should be boosted by the presence of Cameran, the Southern belle from MTV’s The Real World: San Diego, who will be acting as the guest master of ceremonies for the event’s performances. The musical acts will be headlined by Kenin, a Washington, D.C.-based band featuring two recent Duke graduates.
“The day show will be chilled out.... There’ll be maybe one to two covers per set; we always try to play as many originals as possible—that’s been kind of our schtick,” said Devin McGaughey, Trinity ‘03, Kenin’s drummer. “The problem with Durham is that there aren’t that many great venues. Since we’re from Duke we wanted to come back, but it’s tough without big events like Oktoberfest and the big quad show.”
Oktoberfest coincides with Homecoming Weekend this year, and the event’s organizers hope that alumni will bolster the ranks of Oktoberfest revelers.
“I really don’t think attendance is going to be a problem— if anything, because of all the people in town for Homecoming, our attendance will be better than in the past,” Parker said. “We’ve been working very closely with the alumni affairs office.... All the events going on this weekend will bring more people to everyone’s events.”
At the festival, food vendors will accept cash and FLEX points, but it will also be possible for students to use food points to buy tickets—likened to “Monopoly money” by the event’s organizers—that can be redeemed for food and beverages.
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