Altendorf Kürbisfest – 7 Oct 2012
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| Translation: Altendorf Pumpkin Festival Everything about the pumpkin. |
And I thought that the Germans didn’t celebrate thanksgiving…….. Well, they don't but they love decorating with pumpkins and gourds and eating everything pumpkin.
A couple of months ago I read somewhere that there was a
Pumpkin Festival in a little town just north of Erlangen, so I put it in my calendar. Our plan was to ride our bikes the 28 kms to
Altendorf but we woke up to rain, rain and more rain. But this wasn’t going to stop us from going,
it was just going to change our transportation plans. So, by the time we were heading out the door
to the car, the rain was stopping.
Altendorf - Pumpkin
Village (from their website)
Altendorf is a quiet,
idyllic village in the valley of the River Regnitz near the Main-Danube Canal.
On the first Sunday in October, in the community Altendorf, the traditional pumpkin festival held. Altendorf is known today primarily for its reputation as a pumpkin village. Pumpkins were sold for a long time along the former B 4, but only a few varieties. The emergence of new varieties introduced since the nineties to a real pumpkin boom. The variety of shapes and colors, the different ways of cooking, craft materials and the usability than the inherited from the United States were from the once despised Halloween pumpkin (the poor man's food and livestock feed) are a popular fruit. Altendorf caught on quickly to the new conditions, thus becoming a pioneer of the pumpkin movement in Upper Franconia.
The first Pumpkin Festival from Horticultural Society on the occasion of the 900 years celebration organized in 1996 a great success in a short time and the festival has become a tradition. It attracts people from near and far, and it has also been in the national media attention.
It is well known in the region for its pumpkin festival and
its pumpkin specialities.
Here is their program for the one day fesitval:
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| Translation:
10.00 clock harvest thanksgiving service as festival service
11.15 clock tour of the pumpkin village 14.00 clock Accordion Orchestra Hirschaid 15.30 clock performance kindergartners 16.00 clock pumpkin Sparrows Choir 16.30 clock Youth Wind Orchestra Buttenheim 17.30 clock declaration of Altendorfer pumpkin King 18.30 clock procession through the village pumpkin (18.15 clock installed in the Point Road) |
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| Translation: We look forward to your visit! |
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| All these little eating establishments are the local farmers barns which have been converted and decorated for the fesitval today. |
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| This one is for you Jack!!! |
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| And this one! |
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| Cute little mice! |
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| The whole darn family! |
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| This was the Pumpkin King in 2011, I wonder which one will win this year!!! |
We were there just in time to eat lunch. We tried Pumpkin Bratwurst on a Bun, Pumpkin Soup and...
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| Pumpkin Cheese Cake and Pumpkin Loaf, (did you notice Tim's pumpkin coloured shirt?) |
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| and Pumpkin Sekt (German for Champange). |
There was also pumpkin liquor, pumpkin chili, pumpkin bread pretzels, pumpkin pesto, pumpkin marmade, pumpkin chutney. You name it, it was there.
Tim was very upset as there was no Pumpkin Pie, but pie is not something that the German's make.
All in all a wonderful fall day in small town Germany.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!
