Hermann Missouri Maifest Celebrating 175th Anniversary of City's Founding with Parade Sunday

 LINK: HERMANN TOURISM

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Friday, May 20
6:00 to 10:00 p.m.	Hermann Jaycees carnival rides, City Park
6:00 to Midnight	Hermann Jaycees Beer Garden, Upper City Park
6:30 and 8:00 p.m.	Guided lantern tours at the White House Hotel with actors in period costume
Friday night	Live music at Simon's on Wharf Street
Saturday, May 21
9:00 to 5:00	Schiller Street Volksplatz. More than 40 vendor booths—food, arts and crafts and demonstrations
10:00 to 4:00	Historic Hermann Tours — Deutschheim State Historic Site (tours at 10:00 12:30 & 2:30), German School, Gasconade County Historical Society Archive Center, White House Hotel
10:00 to 3:00	Blacksmithing Demonstration, Forge on Gutenerg Street
10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.	Hermann Jaycees carnival rides, City Park
11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.	Maifest Bier Garten — Entertainment, food and drink, Sesquicentennial Park, 3rd and Gutenberg
12:00 Noon	Kinder King and Queen Contest, German School
12:00 to 5:00	Loehnig Family Band, Stone Hill Winery
12:45 p.m.	Junior Wurstjaegers at Stone Hill Winery
2:30 p.m.	Wurstjaeger Dancers at Stone Hill Winery
1:00 to 6:00	Music by St. Louis Czech Express, Tin Mill Brewery
1:00 to 5:00	Music by Badlands, OakGlenn Winery ($5 cover charge)
Throughout the day	German food, music and dancing at Hermannhof Winery
2:00 to 3:30	Old-fashioned German-style kids games, German School yard
6:00 to Midnight	Jaycee Beer Garden, City Park (live entertainment 6:00 to 10:00)
Saturday Night	Music by the Bluff-tones at the Bank Bar on Schiller Street
Saturday night	Live music at Simon's on Wharf Street
Sunday, May 22
10:00 to 4:00	Schiller Street Volksplatz. More than 40 vendor booths—food, arts and crafts and demonstrations
10:00 to 4:00	Historic Hermann Tours — Deutschheim State Historic Site, German School, Gasconade County Historical Society Archive Center, White House Hotel
11:00 to 4:00	Maifest Bier Garten — Entertainment, food and drink, Sesquicentennial Park, 3rd and Gutenberg
12:00 to 5:00	Loehnig Family Band, Stone Hill Winery
Throughout the day	German food, music and dancing at Hermannhof Winery
10:00 to 3:00	Blacksmithing Demonstration, Forge on Gutenerg Street
11:30 a.m.	Reception at the Gasconade County Courthouse honoring 2011 parade grand marshalls Calvin and Caroll Scheidegger
12:30 p.m.	Re-enactment of the firing of the Little Cannon on the Courthouse lawn
1:00	Parade — celebrating the 175th anniversary of Hermann's founding
	Activities for children after the parade
Maifest activities will be held throughout town all weekend at Hermannhof and Stone Hill Wineries, the Tin Mill Brewing Company, and other locations. Click for lodging information.

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lthough the exact date is unknown, local historians believe Hermann's first Maifest was held sometime in the early 1870s, after the German School was built. Hermann's early Maifests were last-day-of-school picnics for children, After church (the event was always held on Sunday), children would fidget through dinner with their families, waiting until it was time to assemble at the German School.

Girls in new white dresses (the frillier the better) and boys in their Sunday best were given a Maifest badge by the teacher and an American flag by a school board member. The Municipal Band led a parade to the city park, where the first order of business was "the treat." As the bugler blew a special call, children lined up, first for Knockwurst on a bun, then for a glass of pink lemonade colored with wine, and finally for an orange.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent playing games and visiting the concession stand, where 20 cents bought all the popcorn and candy a child could eat. Maifest Sunday was the highlight of many a Hermann childhood. "It was a high point of the year," remembers one of Hermann's older residents. "We lived for Christmas and Maifest."

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