IGCC Celebrating everything German in Pune
Pune Oktoberfest 2022 was organized in the city of Pune on the 12th and 13th of November after two whole years of waiting. As Punekars filled the Royal Western Indian Turf Club to celebrate their favourite original German festival organized by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, the smiles on their faces said it all: the two-year wait was worth it.
To inaugurate Pune Oktoberfest, IGCC along with its partners for the festival participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony, after which the celebrations began with even more vigour.
The 2022 edition of Pune Oktoberfest was held with much more revelry [MG1] and liveliness than expected, with over 4000 attendees, both days included. People who have been to the Oktoberfest in Munich, where the biggest celebration of the event takes place, were happy to see that the true flavour of Germany had been brought to Pune as well.
An event of this scale always has multiple stakeholders and endless cooperation partners. A massive shout-out to the German Consulate, Mumbai and all our sponsoring partners! Thanks to their support, IGCC left no stone unturned in the execution of the event.
Our celebration of Pune Oktoberfest is incomplete without the official inauguration, which included the ribbon-cutting ceremony as well as the fun traditional tapping of the keg. Our partners participated in the traditional celebration and said “Prost!” with the band and to all those holding the special Pune Oktoberfest mugs.
This year, Pune Oktoberfest had 3 brewery partners, Oi Brewing Company, Kimaya Brewing Company, and Moonshine on board. Kimaya with its ciders, Oi with its lagers and Moonshine with its meads had all managed to glue people to the bar and also to the dance floor. The screams of “Prost!” echoing through the bar was one of our personal favourite experiences at the festival, apart from “O’ zapft ‘is!”, of course!
Adding to the celebrations, we had the original Oktoberfest band “Die Kirchdorfer” singing some of our all-time favourite songs. The band’s energy radiated through the crowds dancing to their beats. There were all sorts of people on the dance floor: some dancing on the table-tops, some showing off their moves on the dance floor, some holding their partners and just enjoying the moment and some silently standing in the corner with a beer glass in their hands and a broad smile on their faces; we had it all.
One of our personal favourite tracks by the band was “What’s going on?” (by 4 Non Blondes), which also earned the loudest audience participation amongst all their other songs.
We asked a few people who had attended Pune Oktoberfest 2022 what their main attraction for coming to the festival was and we were not surprised when we received two answers in the count of hundreds
1. The German Beers
2. “Die Kirchdorfer”, the original Oktoberfest band
To add to the beauty of Pune Oktoberfest 2022, we had some scrumptious food stalls catering to everyone's pallet. The food stalls covered myriad cuisines, complementing the beers and meads beautifully. Kareem's brought us some luscious Kebabs and wholesome Biryani, Bubsterr's bar and kitchen brought us great Pizza, Grill House brought us a lot of sausages and grills to complement our beers, Marhaba brought us some delicious Lebanese food, Tangasseri by Semporo brought the coast closer to Pune, Zyzzyva brought us the juiciest sliders, and Sammey's brought us artisanal ice creams, Sorbets and ice-cream sandwiches. A special mention to Franz and Filo's to bring us some amazing, savoury Brezels, bringing an extra flavour of Germany to Pune.
There was another partner that was complementing the bar extremely well: MrKadakman, India's only drinking games host along with his team. They managed to engage the crowd with some of the most hilariously difficult games. “I don't think it's ever possible to win these games, especially if you are a couple of beers down,” said one of the attendees of the fest who had come along with his friends.
At the heart of the success of Pune Oktoberfest 2022 was it being a family-friendly beer festival. While parents and guardians enjoyed their beers, we had a kids' corner, in partnership with Kidos, to keep the children engaged in fun activities and games.
Additionally, we also had “Animal Angels”, a dog therapy shelter within the Kids Zone in association with Bajaj Allianz. The dogs were a highlight for a lot of those who walked in since it was something unique to have at a festival.
All in all, the Pune Oktoberfest 2022 was an incredible celebration, one which would not be possible without our partners
- The German Consulate Mumbai
- Platinum Partners: Roedl & Partner India, Lufthansa Group
- Gold Partner: Fristam Pumps India Private Limited
- Silver Partner: Landesbank Baden-Wuertemberg (Mumbai Representative Office)
- Bronze Partners: Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Limited, MPS Tech Engineering & Consultancy India Private Limited, Mubea Automotive Components India Private Limited, Schmalz India Private Limited, Thyssenkrupp Industries India Private Limited, T-Systems ICT India Private Limited, Wirtgen India Private Limited
- Associate Partners: Audi Pune (Jubilant Motors), Brose India Automotive Systems Private Limited, Continental Surface Solutions India Private Limited, Deutsche Bank AG India, Eirich India Private Limited, Fuchs Lubricants India Private Limited, Gedia India Automotive Components Private Limited., Hansgrohe India Private Limited., Hoffmann Quality Tools India Private Limited, Nexdigm Private Limited, Vitesco Technologies India Private Limited
We hope to keep coming back, bringing a larger piece of Germany to the city of Pune every time.
