INDIANAPOLIS — Hoosiers in the Circle City are getting ready to raise a stein in honor of National German-American Day.
It's touted as Downtown Indy's best 'haus' party — GermanFestis back for its 15th year.
On Saturday, you'll get a chance to enjoy delicious German food like potato pancakes, brats and pretzels.
“Everybody’s got a little German in them around here. Definitely everyone wants to celebrate the culture," President of the Athenaeum Foundation Craig Mince said.
A part of the culture or not — you can discover your inner German and party on Michigan and New Jersey Street this weekend.
All proceeds benefit the maintenance and care of the historic Athenaeum building, which turns 125 this year.
Mince says they’re expecting their largest crowd to date — roughly 6,000 guests.
“We got plenty of food, plenty of beer, plenty of activities for the family. We got wiener dog races, we’ve got stein holding, we got sausage eating contests," he said.
The day is all about celebrating German heritage and contributions to modern Hoosier culture.
During the festivities, you can catch Travis Jerde behind the griddle, flipping kartoffelpuffer or german potato pancakes.
“My wife’s family originally came from Bavaria, they came to Wisconsin in the 1890s and they thought with them this recipe for what we call kartoffelpuffer which are potato pancakes," the German American club of Indianapolis member, Jerde said. “This is made from scratch. We use potato, egg, flour and onion and special things I won’t talk about.”
Andrea Howard and Nicole Stille are excited to bring their dachshunds Loki and Gretchen Wieners — who is definitely trying to make ‘fetch’ happen.
Their pups will be wagging their tails in support of the 48 other pooches competing in Germanfest’s annual wiener dog race.
Besides all the sights and smells, Stille comes for the people.
“It’s such a community down here. When I go to GermanFest, I see all these people I know. Everyone is having a great time. I come for the community," she said.
