At the world's only dry Octoberfest, there's not a drop of beer to drink - in Cullman, Alabama

Modern Brewery Age, Oct 21, 2002

Oktoberfest in Cullman, Alabama, means bratwurst, lederhosen and oom-pah bands, just like in Germany. But the primary Octoberfest ingredient--beer--is conspicuously absent.

This conservative north Alabama, city named for a German immigrant, celebrates its heritage each year with what it bills as the world's only dry Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest means big, loud beer halls in cities like Munich, where 5.9 million people drank about 1.5 million gallons of beer this year. There, downing stems full of golden brew is elevated to an art form.

But alcohol sales have been against the law for decades in Cullman, a town of 14,000 located 50 miles north of Birmingham. So its Oktoberfest includes a stone-cold tour of churches, a tennis tournament and a German lunch at the local Italian restaurant.

"It just doesn't sound right, does it?" said David Simpson, a local vet.

Cullman's festival is small by Oktoberfest standards, but it's bigger than it used to be. Now in its 21st year, Oktoberfest has grown from a handful of people sitting on a porch to a weeklong event that draws a few hundred people each day.

"We had some people here yesterday from Georgia," said Grady Griffin, an Irishman elected burger-meister, or honorary mayor, this year.

The lack of alcohol keeps things pretty sedate in Cullman. it began as a German enclave founded by immigrant John G. Cullmann in 1873.

This past week, a dozen or so people milled around under a 100-foot-long tent listening to a lone accordion player, Wolfgang Moritz. A few got up to flap their arms when he launched into "The Chicken Dance."

Schoolchildren were due to show up after classes to perform. "They'll liven things up," said Army retiree Jim Swofford, wearing a traditional Bavarian hat and a red vest with a cartoon tuba player on the back.

A keg of root beer sat by the stage, but volunteers were also selling OktoberZest, a nonalcoholic concoction dreamed up to give Cullman's Oktoberfest a drink of its own. "It's a sparkling apple cider flavored with apple pie spices," said Elaine Fuller, director of the city museum.

The only beer at Cullman's Oktoberfest is kept on the bottom shelf of a locked display case in the city museum. The lone bottle-its gold foil wrap still intact-was a gift from Cullman's sister city in Germany.

Rather than trying to hide the lack of libations, organizers promote Cullman's Oktoberfest as being dry. Still, visitors inevitably show up looking for something harder than cider.

"They'll ask, 'Do y'all serve beer? And we'll say 'No,' and it's OK,."' said Griffin.

Repeated attempts to legalize alcohol sales have failed in Cullman County, which has 200 churches for 77,000 residents. The most recent vote was in June, when residents voted 2,945-2,493 to stay dry.

Residents quietly describe Cullman County as the "wettest dry county around," but most drinkers have to drive at least 20 minutes to Jefferson County to purchase alcohol legally. Of Alabama's 67 counties, 26 are dry.

Simpson, the veterinarian, knows exactly what would. happen if Cullman's Oktoberfest were to start serving beer. "There'd be more laughing, bigger crowds, more dancing--everything," he said. "Beer tends to make people laugh, sing and holler."