Eighth Oktoberfest: Many Sales, No Ales

Chances are that if you hit Harvard Square Sunday afternoon you were lassoed into a juggling act, were engulfed with the Oompah-pah music of the Hofbrau Boys Bavarian Band, or were enticed by the mixed aromas of Mexican tacos, fried dough or Italian sausage that filled the air.

But how did all of these international activities fit into the framework of the eighth annual Oktoberfest--the stated purpose of Sunday's festivities?

"Great!," said egg roll vendor Linda Loui, who has worked at the Oktoberfest for the past two years. "When we told [Executive Director of the Harvard Square Business Association] Sally Alcorn, the director of the fair, that we were bringing Chinese food, she was thrilled. People want to see something different," she said.

According to Alcorn, the Oktoberfest, which parallels the 75-year-old Munich celebration and is sponsored by the Business Association, has been expanding ever since its inception by the Wursthaus restaurant eight years ago. But while the Munich Oktoberfest originated as a celebration of Prince Ludwig's wedding and of drinking special Oktoberfest beer, the Harvard Square Oktoberfest started, according to owner of Wursthaus, Frank Cardullo, as an attempt to attract more business to the Square after the rebuilding of the MBTA Red Line.

This year, 45 vendors participated, and from noon until dusk, an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people traversed the blocked-off sections of JFK and Brattle streets. Vendors competed for the attention of the crowd by displaying such exotic wares as hand painted shirts, Indian mirrored bags, Alpaca wool sweaters, Kenya bags, cloth from Thailand, Nepal, and China, and hand-sewn bags from Colombia.

Jewelry was also a popular item at the fest, as pedestrians were tempted with samples of silver earrings from Mexico, bracelets from Bali, silver trinkets from India and Afghanistan, and semi-precious stones from Taiwan.

Food vending stands also represented a wide variety of international samplings. In front of David's Cookies on Brattle Street, tacos, egg rolls, and bratwurst were sold, and further down the street one could buy "Italian sausage, delicious Shishkabob, and Teryaki-on-a stick" from the same stand. Along JFK street Piggie King, Johnnie's Munchie Machine, pretzel sellers and the Slush King attracted visitors to the square.

The onlooker seeking beer at this Oktoberfest, however, met with the real surprise of this year's celebration: a new alcohol policy that banned alcohol from the streets.

The reactions to the policy change were mixed among vendors. Food vendors like Loui frowned on the rule--"What's an Oktoberfest without beer?," she said. Added a vendor from Tacos El Bruce, "Business is lousy. People aren't drinking and eating because there's no booze." On the other hand, the vendors of arts, crafts, and other non-food items were overwhelmingly in favor of the new policy. Sona Belle, who sold Balinese jewelry at the fair, recalls: "[Last year] it got seedy toward the end. We were right next to a paddy wagon, and police were handcuffing a youth; it was kind of violent." Asked how business was going, she commented, "It's basically the same, but this is nicer. People who came to Oktoberfest for alcohol are disappointed I'm sure."

Said Cardullo, who started the Oktoberfest eight years ago, "I'm annoyed about the alcohol policy. This should not have happened. An Oktoberfest commands beer.