Germania Maennerchor's Annual Volksfest Returns August 1-3

Grab your lederhosen, and get ready to celebrate Evansville's rich German heritage at the annual Germania Maennerchor Volksfest.

What is a Maennerchor?

What exactly is a "Maennerchor," anyway. After a quick Google search, we learned that, according to Wikipedia, "Maennerchor" (pronounced MEN-ER-CORE) means, "men's chorus" which is a name given to German Social Clubs.

Evansville's Maennerchor History

The Evansville Maennerchor has been around for over 120 years. It was founded in 1900 "by a group of individuals dedicated to sharing their passion with others," according to its website.

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When Did Volksfest First Begin?

The Evansville Germania Maennerchor hosted its very first Volksfest 34 years later in 1934 in celebration of the area's "German heritage and culture with authentic food, drinks, and activities." It was an annual event until the club stopped hosting it in 1941 due to the events of World War II. More than 20 years later, in 1962, the club brought Volksfest back and the popular event has happened every year since.

Kat Mykals, TSM

What to Expect at Volksfest?

Volksfest offers authentic German food like bratwurst, pig knuckles, and sauerkraut, as well as authentic German music from the Rhein Valley Brass, the Ratskeller Band, and Cincinnati Schnapps. Of course no celebration of German heritage is complete without beer.

More Live Music

New for 2024, there will be even more live music with local favorites Tony Henning on Thursday night, Haywire on Friday night, and Retro Shock on Saturday night. All three acts will play under the Beer Garden tent starting at 8 pm.

When is Volksfest?

The event takes place August 1st - 3rd, 2024, and runs from 11:00 AM until 11:00 PM each day. Those under the age of 21 are allowed to attend the event until 2:00 PM. From that point on, it's 21 and over only. Admission is $5 per person beginning at 4:00 PM each day.

Kat Mykals, TSM

More to Know Before You Go

Food is served beginning at 11 am each day. Meals are $14.
The Opening Ceremonies and ceremonial tapping of the first keg will take place on Thursday, August 1st at 6 pm.
There will be a daily half-pot with a drawing each day at 8 pm. Half-pot tickets are $5 each, three for $10, or seven for $20. Each day's winning ticket number will be posted to Germania Maennerchor's Facebook page. (Indiana license #003227)
Those age 21-25 should plan to bring two forms of identification, and at least one must have a photo.

As they say in Deutschland (i.e. Germany), "ein Prosit der Germütlichkeit (a toast to cheer and good times)"

[Sources: Wikipedia / Evansville Germania Maennerchor]

LOOK: Best Beers From Every State

To find the best beer in each state and Washington D.C., Stacker analyzed January 2020 data from BeerAdvocate, a website that gathers user scores for beer in real-time. BeerAdvocate makes its determinations by compiling consumer ratings for all 50 states and Washington D.C. and applying a weighted rank to each. The weighted rank pulls the beer toward the list's average based on the number of ratings it has and aims to allow lesser-known beers to increase in rank. Only beers with at least 10 rankings to be considered; we took it a step further to only include beers with at least 100 user rankings in our gallery. Keep reading to find out what the best beer is in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C.

Gallery Credit: Angela Underwood