47th Annual Odessa Deutschesfest Celebration

From 47th Annual Odessa Deutschesfest Celebration Website:

Authentic German music plays its way into your ears, sausage and strudel tease your appetite, and the fun, excitement, and friendliness capture your heart. This four day event is more than just a festival, it's an experience! Every third full weekend in September, the small community of Odessa attracts thousands of visitors and adventurers to its famous Deutschesfest. Sporting an authentic local German Band - The Oom Pas & Mas, German Food, Crafts, and many exciting events, Odessa has made a name for itself by taking pride in its German Heritage. All the preparation for Deutschesfest is done by volunteers throughout the town.
When people from Odessa travel outside the area and someone asks where they are from, 9 out of 10 times the response will be that "Deutschesfest place". The Fest is known throughout the Pacific Northwest. Its the biggest show in the Big Bend region, surpassing all other celebrations and festivals in the number of visitors it attracts-compared to the size of the town. This is its 45th year of bringing people to town to enjoy a fun-filled weekend. Deutschesfest, a celebration of its ethnic heritage, is similar to an Octoberfest but done the third full weekend of September.


Food-- traditional German cuisine-- is the very heart and soul of Deutschesfest. A wide Variety of delicacies are offered at the food circus, known as the Festplatz, in the center of downtown Odessa. Everything from krautranza to strudel can be savored at the colorful chalets, the food booths sponsored by civic, fraternal, church and School groups.

Deutschesfest began in small way in 1971. No one was certain how many visitors would be on hand for the first celebration on Friday, September 15. By Saturday however, the food booths were sold out. The Biergarten was out of beer. Even Odessa's tavern's ran out of beer.

The Fest organizer's had to run to the neighboring towns of Ritzville, Wilbur and Moses Lake to gather up all the beer they could buy, to serve the Saturday crowd. The only thing they didn't move was factory made pickles. No one was interested in the food unless it was made in Odessa. And every year since the pickles are homemade by a committee, following a recipe handed down for decades from the first immigrants who settled Odessa. In later years, the art of making sauerkraut was added. Today, neither product is left by Monday morning.

Rocky Coulee Brewing Company and Voise Sausage by Shumacher, both located in Odessa, serve their beer and sausage in the Biergarten during Fest.

*There is no fee for visiting Deutschesfest in general. There is a fee for parking RV's at the school's Finney Field complex, and for entrance into the Bier Garten.