Opening Day in the Beer Tents

The Czech Beer Festival, (see previous post) opened yesterday at 3 PM. In our previous post, we were mistaken as to where this festival would be located, and Chris kindly pointed out that we would NOT be able to walk to it.

That turned out to be a good thing anyway, as the opening festivities were held during a major thunderstorm with high winds and driving rain. We were not to be deterred though, and we made our way from the Metro stop at the end of the Red Line to the festival.

The large tents had welcoming smells of grilled and roasted meats, and other gastronomical delights, as well as lots and lots of beer! The photo below is a large sausage replica marking the entrance to our first tent.

Each tent had musical entertainment, and in the opening hours the music was slanted toward traditional Czech music.

This gentleman and his wife, who plays the bass fiddle, were the entertainers at our first stop. He told us that he was featured in an article in the National Geographic in 1993, although I haven't yet tried to look that up!

Somehow, these folks all seem to know we are American. Here are our friends Jim and Mabelle -is it the french fry that gives us away??

The tents were not crowded because of the rain, and because the festival had just opened, so these musicians, having spotted us as Americans, played American music for us! These folks played "You Are My Sunshine."

The next tent was sponsored by the Svejk Restaurant.

I'm not sure who this horn player was, but he looks just like the restaurant's logo, a caricature of the Good Soldier Svejk! The Good Soldier Svejk is a satiric masterpiece created by Czech novelist, humorist, prankster, natural storyteller, and journalist, Jaroslav Hasek.

We weren't sure what kind of horn that might be, it looked too small to be a cornet or trumpet, but he played it quite well in the style of Louis Armstrong. Again, he and his band of musicians picked us out as Americans and played When The Saints Go Marching In and Blueberry Hill for us.

Not all the fun and food were inside though, and when the storm was over we ventured out to check out some of the smaller tents.

This is a roasting something or other- ox? cow? We don't know for sure because we were not in the least tempted to try any.

Lastly, here is a video of our new musician friends. 9 more days of this festival.......