Born in 1954, the choucroute days attracted between 50,000 and 60,000 people to Colmar Place Rapp each year, before a decline that led to an inevitable last edition in 1997. “On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the birth of these days, we want to relaunch them in a more contemporary concept. It is both an honor and a challenge. *
“The Oktober FAV will be a festival of sauerkraut, wine and beer, a festival of Alsatian gastronomy,” summarizes Christophe Crupi, the director of Colmar Expo, the organizing company. “We chose to integrate the acronym FAV (Wine Fair) into the name of the event, because FAV is becoming a brand, we have a community that needs to have new events,” he adds.
Only local products
On Friday and Saturday, October 11 and 12 in the evening only, and on Sunday, October 13 at noon, Hall 3 of the exhibition center will welcome, during each session, 2,500 people who will be able to taste a unique menu: a platter of cold cuts as a starter, followed by sauerkraut made by Bernard Jauss, and to finish an iced kougelhopf from Alba ice creams accompanied by a coffee for €35 per person. All will be washed down with a choice of wine from the Bestheim cooperative cellar or Meteor beers.
Local products will be highlighted with Riedwihr cabbage, Balgau bacon and Sundhoffen charcuterie. “We will offer three types of beer,” announces Frédéric Pflumio, aka Meteor Fritz, sales director of Meteor: a Pils served only in a tank (1-litre glass), not to make you drink more, but to dramatise the thing, as well as, in more traditional glasses, a white beer and a cherry beer.” Consumers, served by around fifty to sixty volunteers from the SRC Omnisports supervised by AZ Réceptions, will be able to leave their tables of four or eight people to join the dance floor.
The first Colmar event to be labelled Ronde des fêtes, Oktober FAV is intended to be musical and dance-filled. The entertainment will be provided for the three days by the Willerthaler, an Alsatian group, and the Alpenfeuer, who have come straight from Austria with a busload of their fans in folk costumes every day. Colmar DJ Fabrizio will provide the late evening entertainment on Friday and Saturday.
To reserve a table for eight people, contact 03 90 50 51 02. To reserve tickets individually, go to www.oktober-fav.fr.
