Kneipen Festival Ahaus - Livehaftig 2009

Once a year, Germany comes alive with its summer celebrations and Nordrhein Westfalen region where Ahaus is located were no exception. In most cases and unlike other European counterpart where their celebration centres around food, Germany is well ... what is Germany without its famous Beer drinking session :-)

Hubby and I attended the Kneipen Festival Ahaus last Saturday where a group of participting Pub come together to offer affordable selection of Beer, Liquor and anything alcoholic. It was interesting for me as I get to try various drinks in one night (not too mention recuperating from hangover on Sunday!) and yeah ... local beer, draught beer, Fruit Beer, Oak Liquor and the speciality of this region ... Red Orange Beer! I tried them all and looks like I found a new LOVE too :-)

In total, we managed 8 pub from the 12 listed with our unlimited entry ticket. Not bad eh ... for first timer like me. We topped up our drink chips twice where for as little as one chip (1.40 Euro each), we´re able to redeem a basic, small portion drink mentioned earlier. Though pricier than usual, it was worth every cent as the beer served were all fresh and COLD - perfect for summer weather.

The music was ... OOHLALA ... rocking good! Apart from top notch sound system being present there, the crowd were alive and kicking. I particularly liked the ones playing old pop music in Vivendi and a spanish group (I believe specially flown in from Spain) whom did a kicking version of Gypsy King hit songs!

To get from one pub to another, a hop on hop off bus service were seen circling the routes every five minutes or so. Happening! I though riding the hop on bus were an experience itself as the crowd in there were ALIVE on its own. Perhaps they might turn the bus into a clubbing bus next year? The funny thing is ... I did not spot any drunken the WHOLE night. This proves that Germans can REALLY drink.

Apart from drink counters ... the Imbis were hotcakes too. Set up just right outside each pubs, most of them are seen selling standard german favourite snacks such as sausages and fries. Apart from Doner Kebab which we grabbed earlier from a Turkish Pizza Cafe, we filled our tummy with two portion of Pommes (fries) and Wurst from Poland!. Though moderate in taste (the ones you get from supermarket and fry them yourself are way better), its a relieve to be able to grab a bite when hunger strikes.

We pub hopped from 8 till 1pm with Drebbers being the last :-). Though we had the drink chips left, we left the place after 10 minutes as it was SO PACK. We than though we´d manage Müllers and Schlosshotel next but my feet gave way. So off we went for a final Imbis session with Fran (whom we bump into upon exiting Drebbers) before heading home to lala land.



It was such an enjoyable night with hubby and we should really do this more often :-)

(with or without festival)