It is a surprisingly short trip up to Lake Geneva from our shop in Woodstock, and this past Sunday Matt and I made the trek though beautiful fall weather. Everything about Oktoberfest is right up my alley; the cooling temperatures, the abundance of cider and spices, and a plethora of sausage and pretzels! The festivals around this time, in my humble opinion, are only made better when I can provide some live music. Matt and I performed on the main stage for the Lake Geneva Oktoberfest last year, and our return this year was another success. We brought our pan & vibes duo, but ever the outward thinkers, we couldn’t stop there. Matt provided some accordion, and I got to spend time teaching some of the audience children about African drumming. We played pan/vibes, accordion/vibes, pan/drums, all drums, and every piece was as received with joy and applause.

As we were getting set up, we struggled to fit our umbrella in a way to appropriately protect the pans, but we finally were able to get the pans shaded. The vibes were less of an issue getting set up, and their sound rang through the performance area beautifully. I was trilled to share the stage with our good friends Felix and Fingers who took the stage a few acts after us. Once our performance was done, we were able to stroll the main street which was filled with hot apple cider, apple cider donuts, and black bean soup (all of which I eagerly partook). There was also an array of potato pancakes, bratwursts, turkey legs, bacon treats, and more than I can remember. The street also sported inflatable slides and a small pony ring for the kids.

All in all, it was a wonderful Sunday. Any day with a performance is a great one, but a repeat performance at such a nice outdoor venue is especially pleasant. Stay tuned for more show recaps!

–AJH