OGDEN — Three things Germans know: food, music and dancing.
No surprise, then, that the 29th annual Sneddon Hof GermanFest featured all three in abundance. The two-day event, held the third weekend in January each year at Weber County’s Golden Spike Event Center, offers traditional foods like bratwurst and sauerkraut, as well as dancing to the sounds of groups with names like Euroherz-Musikanten, Schnitz and Baggerla, and Salzburger Echo.
On Saturday morning, Ray and Evelyn Moritz, of Roy, were just sitting down at one of the long tables in the exhibit hall for an authentic German meal of wiener schnitzel and red cabbage.
“We come every year,” Evelyn Moritz said. “We like to help keep things going in Ogden. We do the German festival, the Greek festival. We like to support the fun things here.
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29th Annual HOF GermanFest
“And,” she adds with a smile, “where else can you have a beer before noon?”
Ray Moritz said they’ve traveled to Munich, and the food at GermanFest is every bit as good as the food they ate in Germany.
But their favorite part of the day? Evelyn Moritz points to the stage, where Salzburger Echo is oom-pah-pah-ing its way through another upbeat traditional German tune.
“The music,” she says. “It’s got a joy, a bounce to it.”
“Invigorating,” her husband chimes in.
This year’s GermanFest celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Sister City relationship between Ogden and Hof, Germany. That relationship is the oldest Sister City program in the nation, according to GermanFest organizer Jim Harvey, general manager of the Golden Spike Event Center.
“This is the authentic deal,” Harvey said. “It’s not the biggest, but it’s one of the most authentic German festivals in the U.S.”
And while beer isn’t one of the big draws at the event, “You can get a very good imported beer here,” he said.
“And it’s family friendly,” said Katherine Sneddon Heninger, a member of the festival’s executive committee. “Everybody can come out and dance.”
It was Heninger’s late husband, former Ogden city council member and mayor Scott Sneddon, who started the festival back in the mid-1980s. When Sneddon died in 2005, the county committed to continue the tradition.
“If it wasn’t for the Sneddons, this thing would have died,” Harvey said.
Friday was one of the event’s biggest openings in memory, according to Harvey. He expected about 4,000 people over the two days, and 10 dignitaries from the city of Hof were visiting for the festival.
“It’s authentic entertainment, food and family fun,” Heninger said.
Alan and Mary Bott, of Kaysville, sat with their three children, listening to the music, on Saturday afternoon.
“We come almost every year,” Mary Bott said. “We love the music and the food.”
Alan Bott served an LDS mission to Germany, and spent some time in Hof.
“I was companions there with Scott Sneddon’s son John,” he said. “I served with him when his father was mayor.”
Alan Bott says they come each year for a little family time, eating German food, listening to German music.
“For me, it brings back memories,” he said, “like the smell of it.”
Then again, not everyone is there for sauerkraut.
“Ruth comes for the popcorn,” Mary Bott says with a smile, nodding toward her her 18-year-old daughter sitting next to her.
On this day, Ryan Gross, of North Ogden, is dressed in the traditional lederhosen outfit. He spent a year in Germany as an exchange student, and now serves on the GermanFest committee.
“I love the culture,” he said of the festival. “People come to explore the culture — to share, and exchange ideas and values.”
Next to him, fiancee Harli Hall is wearing a dirndl, a traditional alpine peasant dress. It’s her first time at GermanFest.
“This is my first year. He dragged me here,” she says, her big smile betraying the “dragged” part.
Hall says she loves the opportunity to wear the dirndl that Gross bought for her.
“I’m a ‘Sound of Music’ fan, so this makes me feel like the girl in the movie,” she said, twirling in the dress.
As for her plans at the festival?
“I’ll get some food, and I want to dance,” she said.
Food, music and dancing. It doesn’t get any more German than that.
Contact Mark Saal at 801-625-4272, or msaal@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @Saalman. Like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SEMarkSaal.