Travellers from across Australia and beyond our shores filled the War Memorial Hall to capacity on Saturday night for the highlight of the 2009 Tenterfield Bavarian Beer Fest.
Revellers travelled from across the local areas, all along the east coast of Australia from Melbourne to Brisbane, and as far away as Papua New Guinea and Germany itself.
Although September may be months away, a 30 piece brass band direct from the Allgau region in southern Germany and selection of authentic German beer and traditional Bavarian fare soon had the capacity crowd imagining they were in a Munich beer hall at the height of Oktoberfest.
A choice of three German beers was on offer to compliment a range of tradition Bavarian food with sausages, sauerkraut and schnitzels proving popular throughout the night.
Although organisers have yet to tally the final figure for takings, Des Taylor, President of the Rotary Club of Tenterfield, said they were expecting to send a considerable amount to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.
"We are still waiting for the final figures, but it is going to end up being a very reasonable amount. It makes me very proud to be associated with an event like this," he said.
"All the unseen help is incredible, from groups like the CWA, RSL, the Town Partnership Committee, Blue Healers, the Tenterfield Shire Council workers and host families.
"The festival ran smoothly and there were no hiccups. There was a massive amount of work put into and everyone who went had a ball. I haven't heard an ugly thing about it yet: every report so far is wonderful.
"I don't think I've ever seen so much enthusiasm, so much happiness and so little trouble from a thing like this before," Mr Taylor said.
Consul-General Hans-Gunter Gnodtke of the German Consulate in Sydney attended the beer fest, a guest whom Mr Taylor said provided a huge compliment to Rotary and all involved in organising the festival.
"We were very honoured to have the Consul-General here. To have someone like that come all the way here is a huge thing for us," he said.
Tenterfield Shire Council and the International Town Partnership Cultural Committee are calling the Beer Fest an unqualified success for the relationship between Tenterfield and it's sister cities Ottobeuren, Boehen and Hawagen in Bavaria.
International Town Partnership Cultural Committee Chairperson Lucy Sullivan said, "From the Town Partnership Committee's point of view the whole week couldn't have been better, it certainly strengthened the bond between the two towns. It was an unqualified success, Rotary should be very proud of themselves."
Tenterfield Shire Council Mayor Toby Smith echoed Councillor Sullivan's sentiments, and praised the efforts made both here in Tenterfield and from the members of the visiting brass band for their dedication to the event.
"The beer fest very much enhanced an already strong partnership with Ottobeuren, it was a wonderful success and a wonderful cultural exchange. It was great to have so many visiting from Ottobeuren and the surrounding areas, at such a great effort from the band members themselves," Councillor Smith said.
Forty-five band members and crew travelled from the Allgau province in southern Germany - which includes Tenterfield's sister-city towns - and boarded with 20 different local host families while in Tenterfield for the festival. The band members were not paid for playing throughout the festival, and even financed all their travel expenses and other expenses by themselves.
Mr Taylor and Rotary Club of Tenterfield Vice President Harry Bolton said Rotary would look at expanding the festival in upcoming years. Some of the ideas that will be considered will include extending the festival to make it a week long event, possibly moving the location to a bigger venue and adding more events throughout the festival.
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