By Evan Borman
St Julien Hotel and Spa is celebrating its fourth annual Oktoberfest on Sunday, Sept. 13 from 1 to 4 p.m. The festival will brew Bavarian tradition and Boulder’s beauty on the lawn and terrace of the hotel.
St Julien is a four-star four-diamond property offering worldly live music four days a week. The 201-room hotel is a short walk from Pearl Street and offers unrivaled elegance facing the Flatirons.
The German celebration acts as a kickoff to the fall season with three hours of live polka music, top-notch cultural delicacies and games for all ages. Wear dancing shoes and prepare to stomach an all-you-can-eat-and-drink buffet.
“It’s a very fun, fun family-friendly way to spend an afternoon. The food is exceptional and it’s a really good price for this event,” Bryan Amaro, director of restaurants and bars, said.
The Oktoberfest celebration offers a German-themed buffet of Schnitzel, Schweinerbraten (roast pork), Wurstl (Bavarian sausages and sauerkraut), black forest cake, big ol’ Brezens (pretzels) and more.
“The tickets are sold on Eventbrite. It's a $49 ticket that gives you access to this lavish German buffet of all of these German classics that you just don’t see anymore,” Amaro said. “And for an extra $25, it’s all you can drink.”
St Julien is partnering with Paulaner, a historic brewery founded in Munich in 1634. Paulaner is one of six official breweries that supply beer for Munich’s legendary Oktoberfest and was first brewed by friars from the Order of Minims to sustain them during the strict fasting of Lent.
This year, Polka Folka is bringing the oom-pah-pah to the party. Polka Folka is a Denver-based band that exceeds any prior expectations of the genre.
“Polka music in general is a little bit outside of most people's frame of reference. I think a lot of people are pleasantly surprised,” Polka Folka vocalist and accordionist, Pat O’Toole, said. “Oktoberfests are always so fun,” O’Toole added. “You can’t really go wrong, you know? Good beer, good food, good music.”
Recognized for its rambunctious live performances, the band intermingles the traditional European polka and waltz with recognizable pop hits.
“It’s always funny to kind of watch people and hear a bassline or melody and people perk up and are like—‘Wait, wait, is that what I think it is?’” O’Toole said. “I remember one time we played at a thing and this guy came up, he’d had a few steins worth of beer, and he was like, ‘Oh man, I f---ing hate polka, but I love you guys!’”
O’Toole is joined by Jeff Miguel on soprano saxophone, Devin O’Toole on guitar and Daniel Rule on bass to bring the historic German hertz to the hotel lawn and terrace.
Polka originated as a peasant folk dance in Central Europe that spread during the 19th century as a uniting force for communities across social classes.
Polka Folka always begins its Oktoberfest sets with the famous toast, “Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit,” which translates to “a toast to well-being and good cheer.” The toast gets audiences warmed up to shared dances, which characterize the genre and its historical links.
The Oktoberfest celebration is proof of the unique entertainment and music that St Julien offers. The hotel’s array of music events carries a diversity that invites new experiences of cultural expression.
“We’re not a corporate hotel, and we can go out and get creative and not have to get approval on a lot of things,” Amaro said. “They let us be as creative as we want to be and that’s a beautiful thing.”
The event will have German-inspired entertainment including a Steinholding competition. The competition, known in German as Masskrugstemmen, is a traditional Bavarian strength test where participants hold a full, one-liter beer straight in front of their body for as long as possible. The glass weighs roughly five pounds total, and any brew spilled or dripped leads to disqualification.
“The vibes of it are just great. Everybody is drinking beer, and it just feels like you’re in Germany. It is just so much fun. I love that it’s a family-friendly thing and it’s good for everyone,” Amaro said.
St Julien is independently owned by Colorado residents, and its entertainment is catered to support local artists and invite community growth.
“We have such a crazy array of music that we do. That German style, it just fits to what we are known for and what we do at the hotel," Amaro said.