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Finding Festivals | Frankenmuth Bavarian Festival | Episode 5

Man: I do one more time.

You got to stick it this time.

Haylie: Okay.

Man: All right.

Ready?

Stomp.

One, two, three, four.

Haylie: I'm Haylie Robinson, and I'm a former fair queen full of wanderlust.

I explore art, culture, community, heritage, history and more.

One festival at a time.

I invite you to join me in finding festivals.

Announcer: Finding festivals is brought to you in part by.

Haylie: This may sound cheesy, but welcome to Frankenmuth.

Friends in northwest Ohio flocked to this charming town during the holiday season, but that's not the only time you can enjoy Frankenmuth.

Michigan's Little Bavaria is rooted in tradition and transports guests beyond the Midwest with German styled architecture.

The city comes together to celebrate their heritage during the annual Bavarian fest.

I connected with Jamie from the Frankenmuth, CVB to unpack the inspiration for this annual event.

Jamie Furbush: We were settled by German settlers in 1845, and so the really the community still is very much rooted in our German traditions.

A lot of our business owners are descendants of the original settlers, and so they continue to celebrate that.

And the Bavarian festival is our kind of our local heritage fest and way to do that.

We have Bavarian diamond checkered flags out all over for the festival.

And it's just a it's a really festive time.

Haylie: And you're even dressed up in a traditional garment of the heritage.

Can you want to do a little spin for us?

Oh, yeah.

I love.

I love the apron.

The fabric is so fun.

Jamie Furbush: Thank you.

Yeah.

Haylie: What is your favorite part of your position?

Jamie Furbush: You know, my favorite part is actually looking outside of our windows and seeing families enjoying their time together and just making memories.

And it's so special.

You know, I think it's really an important thing that we do in the travel industry in general, is to bring people together or to give them those moments that that really help us to create mental wellness for ourselves.

Watching people make those memories and really enjoying themselves here.

Haylie: As humans, we are called to connect.

And travel is such an easy, fun way to do that.

Jamie Furbush: It is.

Jamie Furbush: And to explore right, to find all the hidden treasures.

I mean, we're only two square miles.

We're such a small little town.

But there are so many hidden treasures around every corner.

Some of the fun, free things we have to do.

So the Gnome Hunt, for example, a lot of our visitors love to just go hunting for gnomes when they're around town or a beer passport that we have.

We're just launching the summer a mural finder.

So fun little adventures that you can do along your way as you're kind of in and out of shops and restaurants.

Haylie: So how did the gnome come to be, the Frankenmuth thing?

Jamie Furbush: Yeah.

You know, I almost forget it's been that long.

Actually, the museum got involved.

They created a whole little history about the gnomes, and it was sort of led by the museum originally.

Haylie: You just got to “gnome ” about it.

Jamie Furbush: You just got to “gnome ” about it.

Haylie: Well, now I want to “gnome ” more about Frankenmuth history.

See what I did there?

“Gnome?

” Okay.

Moving on.

Heidi from the Frankenmuth Historical Association gave me a crash course on how Frankenmuth became the city we know today.

Heidi Chapman: So Frankenmuth started out in 1845 with a group of 15 people who were just number one looking to have a better life.

And then also they really just wanted to spread their religion, which was Lutheran.

And then so they came over with their one goal of staying German and trying to remain German.

They did pretty well with that.

So throughout the late 1800s, early 1900s, you know, the German was the number one language here in Frankenmuth.

they very rarely spoke English unless they had to.

It wasn't until 1959 when Tiny Zehnder, who was the owner of Fischer's hotel, had this idea that he was going to remodel his restaurant to have this German facade and reopened as a Bavarian inn.

And he also encouraged other businesses to do that as well.

So over the next couple decades, you would see all of a sudden just these Bavarian Alpine looking buildings pop up throughout town or renovate to look like that.

And that's kind of how Frankenmuth became Michigan's Little Bavaria.

Haylie: Yeah, well, you took the community heritage and it took one person to have an idea, really lean in on it, and now it's become a tourist attraction and an opportunity to educate people on your heritage and culture.

Heidi Chapman: Absolutely.

Yeah.

So our museum by itself really educates that.

Haylie: So we're at the Historical Society.

How many rooms are in this museum?

Heidi Chapman: So we're currently under construction.

So previously we've had eight galleries.

When we're done, we'll have ten galleries and we cover Frankenmuth from the very start, 1845, all the way through today, telling the story of how the settlers came over across the Atlantic from Germany to how they established businesses a little bit throughout World War Two.

I'm sure you can imagine the challenges being a German community during that time frame with breweries and then becoming Michigan's Little Bavaria today.

Haylie: So what is the Bavarian fest for you?

I know that there's some that you do as a local and some you don't.

Where does the Bavarian fest fall for you?

Heidi Chapman: Where is my very favorite festival.

Just because we get to dress up and that's encouraged or dirndls and lederhosens.

The music.

And I mean, the food is always wonderful and the drinks are great and it's just and everybody in town participates, especially on Sunday is the Bavarian parade, and it's just the people lined up and everybody has a good time.

Everybody's dressed up in their Bavarian garb.

And it's just, I think just the camaraderie of everybody loves it and celebrates and just a great time.

Haylie: Your whole family gets involved with it.

Oh, yeah.

And your family is not just, you know, you relocate here, but you have some pretty deep.

Roots in Frankenmuth.

Heidi Chapman: I do.

I'm a seventh generation local.

Everybody's involved.

Everybody's doing something.

So it's just.

Great.

Haylie: It's a whole family affair.

Heidi Chapman: It really is.

Yeah.

Haylie: I was taken back by all that was on display at the museum.

The one thing about all of these writings is that this is going to be code someday, because we don't.

Learn cursive in school, or at least as far as.

I know.

I want to learn more about Tiny Zehnder and his vision for Frankenmuth, but the delicious aromas of chocolate are calling my name.

I'll make a quick pit stop first.

I would like to do the raspberry truffle.

Woman: Okay.

Haylie: Perfect.

Woman: Awesome.

Thank you so much.

We appreciate it.

Haylie: Thank you.

Thank you.

Is adorable shop and it's like a nice cool down to from the day.

its sealed I wasn't prepared for that.

Oh no.

Okay okay.

Got it.

Got to be smarter than the box.

It's really good.

Okay.

Back to uncovering Tiny Zehnder's vision for Frankenmuth, Amy gives me a closer look at the history at the Bavarian Inn restaurant where it all started.

Amy Zehnder-Grossi: This was Fischer's hotel, and our family bought it in 1950.

And then in ‘58 they times were not good.

And Frankenmuth was a recession, and the family said, We either have to close one of the restaurants, Zehnder's or Bavarian, and or we have to do something drastic.

And so they took a gamble and they said, we're going to renovate and add on and change our theming and really celebrate our German heritage.

And so they they added the Bavarian edition and that's when they had a grand opening for the additions is what started the Bavarian festival.

Haylie: Feels like it wasn't even the actual grand opening of a new building, but just an additions.

Amy Zehnder-Grossi: Yes, we like to have parties here.

Haylie: What is your favorite part of this event?

Amy Zehnder-Grossi: I think one of The favorite parts and it's kind of newer is the block party that we have on Friday night.

So the great thing about Bavarian Fest is that it's right downtown now and it is all the locals come and especially on Friday night, we have it's just like a big town party.

We shut down the street and being able to celebrate our German heritage once a year with the whole town, it's it's great.

And the visitors that come.

Haylie: Word on the street is there's famous chicken here.

Amy Zehnder-Grossi: Yes.

So the family style chicken dinner goes back when Frankenmuth was a lumbering community.

And there was this building here, which was called the Union House Hotel and the Exchange Hotel, which is Zehnder's.

They served chicken dinners to the boarders that came that were working in the logging industry.

And so that's kind of where it started.

And then the Fischer family was operating this building.

It was called Fischer's Hotel.

They had family style chicken dinners, and it kind of became a a popular Sunday tradition where people from the Detroit area would come up to Frankenmuth and have a chicken dinner.

And so that's kind of how it started.

And so it's evolved.

We Zehnder's and Bavarian and we, we started as one company.

Now we're two companies, but we're family.

Different branches of the family.

And we all get along very well.

Haylie: you could just.

Feel the family ambiance as soon as you walk in.

Amy Zehnder-Grossi: Good.

Haylie: It's great.

What do you love most about your job and being at the Bavarian Inn restaurant?

Amy Zehnder-Grossi: I think what I love most about my job is being on the floor with our guests and our team members.

I love our team members.

They have great passion in serving our guests, but also the generations of families that come to Frankenmuth, like it's a mom and her children and the grandparents and sometimes the great grandparents.

It's generations that have been coming to Frankenmuth for so many years and just seeing them together, having a good time, just relaxing in Frankenmuth.

That's my favorite part.

Haylie: Do you hear that?

It's time for the story of the Pied Piper on the glockenspiel tower at the Bavarian Inn restaurant completed in 1967.

The 50 foot bell tower can be heard across Frankenmuth, a fun way to connect with the varying heritage and tradition.

Though Bavarian architecture is found throughout Frankenmuth, there is one place that looks a little different.

Amy shared the family connection, and I'm meeting with Al to chat more about this side of the business.

Al Zehnder: We got into the restaurant business in 1928.

My grandfather purchased this building and he was a fan of George Washington.

So his his inspiration for this building was Mt.

Vernon, George Washington's home.

We have a early American colonial type theme as opposed to the rest of the Bavarian architecture in Frankenmuth.

And I think it gives people a, you know, sort of change and a some different experience that they can have.

Haylie: I think it's perfect though, because we're known for being a melting pot and you do it perfectly.

Al Zehnder: Thank you.

Yeah.

You know, we try really hard.

We try to provide experience for our guests and they reward us by coming back year after year.

So thank you.

Haylie: So when it comes to the business, I mean, how many people do you serve throughout the year?

Al Zehnder: Last year, we served throughout all of our businesses about 1.2 million, but three and a half million people come to Frankenmuth each year.

And it's generation after generation that we've been just blessed with having our customers come back year after year and generation after generation.

Haylie: Well we're enjoying ourselves here.

So you said your grandfather's one.

That kind of started everything about how many generations are involved in the business.

Al Zehnder: We right now we have third and some fourth generation in the business and the third generation and fourth generation is coming in.

We're all kind of in it.

And, you know, you got to love it.

You got to love people.

And we're really, you know, in the people business, that's that's what it's all about.

Haylie: Absolutely.

And helping people create memories that lasts a lifetime.

Al Zehnder: Yeah.

Haylie: So we're here in town for the Bavarian fest.

I mean, what does this event do for your business?

What does that look like?

Al Zehnder: Well, it really kicks off the summer season.

You know, it's the first it's one of the oldest festivals in the state of Michigan.

I think what it does, it sort of brings the community together.

I like seeing the traditional German lederhosen and dirndls that's been going on since 1959.

So it's it's a long historical festival for our community moved used to be down in heritage park over the last few years moved up into Zehnder Park just south of Zehnder's.

So it's more of a local family event that I think is it?

It kicks off our summer season and it's just something that the community and Zehnder's is very proud of having, you know, been part of the beginning of it.

Haylie: Before we head the Bavarian fest.

I'm grabbing a quick bite at the fun down chow down food truck festival.

Yeah.

Two festivals in one day.

I am in Bliss.

On the second Thursday of every month from May through September, food trucks take over the parking lot east of the River Place Shops.

Bonus, there is face painting.

I have not done this since I was a young child.

I love it.

Is so cute.

Well, now I'm all ready for the events this evening.

Who is ready for the Bavarian fest?

They kick off on Thursday night with the raising of the maibaum, traditional ribbon dancing, polka music, and the ceremonial keg tap.

So, this is Part of the ceremonial tapping of the keg where they keep filling up cups until the keg is empty.

And it's kind of a thing to get a little piece of the first keg.

So here's to the Bavarian fest, “Prost ”.

What makes Thursday unique are the Olympics.

Local businesses duke it out for a yearlong worth of bragging rights.

And remember, some of these folks are related.

This is one way to resolve a family feud.

I spoke with competitor Garrett Kerr, who is repping the River Play Shops about the results of the Olympics.

Did you get to dig in the sauerkraut?

Garrett Kerr: I did.

I had to find four fingernails.

Yeah, that was my my mission.

They're different objects.

They're like the acrylic press on and.

Yeah, those were those were difficult to find.

Haylie: Okay.

Yeah.

Yes.

Especially in all the, like, slimy sauerkraut businesses come together and compete.

Garrett Kerr: Correct.

Haylie: They duke it out at this one event right?

Garrett Kerr: We sure do.

Yeah.

Haylie: We're all nicey nice.

Until the Olympics.

Garrett Kerr: Until the Olympics.

Yeah.

Haylie: So we had the sauerkraut finding right?

Garrett Kerr: Yeah.

Haylie: And there were several other events and you were stuck with the nails.

But what were some others that were challenging?

Garrett Kerr: All we had to do tray carrying.

And you had to carry a tray full of water cups back and forth.

You had to run and then pass it off to your teammates and see who spilled the least amount of water.

We did win for best flare we had, “I don't give a schnitzel ” shirts on and various, you know, press on tattoos.

And so we took first and in costuming that was fun.

Haylie: You were the most spirited.

Garrett Kerr: We were.

Yeah.

Haylie: Way to go.

Garrett Kerr: We always we bring the fun.

Haylie: So in this little shopping area, I mean, how many stores are there?

Garrett Kerr: So Frankenmuth River Place shops has over 40 shops and attractions and I'm sounding like the brochure here, but it is, it's not just retail locations.

We have a spa, there's a European style mirror maze that's a lot of fun.

I have recently developed quite an addiction to jelly beans.

Yeah.

And we have the sugar rush candy shop and they've got a great selection of Jelly Bellys and they actually I'm going to show it to you.

I'm almost embarrassed that I have this in my wallet, but I am a frequent jelly bean buyer and there's a punch card for that sort of thing.

There you go.

Big, big bean buyer card.

Haylie: Look at that.

Garrett Kerr: And so I go in the and I get my fill probably more often than I should.

But a blacksmith experience, that's really interesting.

You can go in there, make a night for a wand or an axe.

Haylie: A wand?

Garrett Kerr: Yeah.

Haylie: I can do magic?

Garrett Kerr: You absolutely can.

Haylie: Oh, my goodness thats so fun.

Garrett Kerr: Yeah.

So finish up if you want.

You can carry it on over to shop called Enchanted Garden.

You buy little fairy statues, you can command them to move around for you.

Haylie: What?

Garrett Kerr: Yeah.

Haylie: Okay.

I may have to do that.

That sounds so fun What do you love most in your role here at the River Place Shops?

Garrett Kerr: I like the fact that I'm allowed to be creative on a daily basis.

Not once have someone told me, “Hey, stay in your lane.

” And our motto is “Create enjoyable experiences ” and getting to do that every day.

And you know, it's not work.

I get to come and just have fun.

Haylie: Oh, I love that.

Create enjoyable experiences heading back downtown where the Block Party is happening.

I noticed this particular flower display.

How cool is this?

The whole town is decorated in flowers.

The mayor filled me in on who keeps up on the beautiful landscaping.

Mary Anne Ackerman: The city beautification Committee helps with the planning.

They raise money for embellishments and our downtown development authority is is the organization that's responsible for coordinating and paying for the staff to make everything look as beautiful as it does.

And a little bit about Frankenmuth that perhaps is one of the reasons that I enjoy it.

We are a community of volunteers, so whether you're a firefighter, a number of our reserve police officers, a city council member, a mayor, we're volunteers and we all come together to get the work done in our community that needs to be done.

Haylie: Wow.

Okay.

So you're wearing a lot of hats is what Im hearing.

Mary Anne Ackerman: Yeah.

Haylie: Which goes back into what Frankenmuth is.

It is a community of people come together for a common cause and probably wear a lot of hats.

Mary Anne Ackerman: Right.

Right.

And did you know that we are actually a pretty small city where a community of only 5000 people Haylie: Wow.

Mary Anne Ackerman: and there are about 2000 residents in the neighboring township area.

So, while we look big, we're really quite a small community but we welcome a whole bunch of guests.

Haylie: So you're having almost 3 million people visiting throughout the year, estimated when it comes to specifically the Bavarian fest.

I mean, what kind of economic impact does that festival or any of the festivals have on the city?

Mary Anne Ackerman: So all of our festivals have an impact and of course, the people that come here to be a part of the festival, they eat here, they sleep here, they go to the shops and buy souvenirs to take home.

They go to the grocery store.

They have a great time and they come back.

But in addition, most of our festivals have many, many volunteers that are helping to run those festivals, and the proceeds from a number of the festivals go back into the community.

Haylie: So not only are you bringing the community together and bringing in tourism, but you're able to use those profits and put it back into the community so that more people can enjoy the space.

Mary Anne Ackerman: Yes.

And one of the best parts is we have a really good time doing it.

Yeah, Haylie: Well, how could you not?

I mean, it's like Prosts every couple of minutes right?

Mary Anne Ackerman: Absolutely.

Yes.

Haylie: Speaking of Prost.

I ran into the organizers of the Bavarian bus.

Charlie, Craig, Olvia, Jerry: Ein Prosit, ein Prosit Der Gem ütlichkeit.

Ein Prosit Haylie: This fun bunch have served as the Bavarian Fest presidents and worked hard to bring this event together.

So when it comes to Bavarian fest, I mean, throughout the country there are all kinds of German heritage based festivals.

But what makes this specific event unique compared to the other German heritage festivals?

Charlie Nickless: Our whole community is German type.

And so it's not just that once a month or once a week out of the year, there are German festival for German all year round.

Craig Fick: Yeah, exactly.

I mean, you come into Frankenmuth 365 days a year and you have the German architecture, you have, you know, are the waitresses and waiters at Bavarian Inn and Zehnders are dressed in dirndl and lederhosens And so it kind of gives us, you know, we're a German community.

Haylie: What does the civic events council do?

Olivia Howard: This all around you is what the Civic Events Council does, and it's kind of evolved over the years.

So now it's made up of a group of 15 board members and like I don't know how many a ton of past presidents that show up and help us every year.

And we just the group of us just are volunteers.

We don't we don't get paid to do any of this.

We we love Frankenmuth, we love the history.

And so we put on this big event for the town.

Haylie: You work hard and you play hard.

Olivia Howard: That's right.

Jerry Thompson: Not necessarily in that order.

Haylie: We learned that this kind of started in a parking lot by a nearby restaurant.

But there is a point in time where the baton was kind of tossed.

When did that Happen?

Jerry Thompson: In 1959.

And when they opened up, they had a week long celebration of the new facility.

The next year, they realized that the Bavarian in itself was not large enough.

So it spilled out into the parking lot and after the first two years, the Bavarian Inn and asked the Civic Events Council of the members of the various service organizations to take over the festival.

So we've had responsibility since then.

Haylie: Wow.

So it's two years at the Inn and then they kind of tossed the responsibility over to you.

Olivia Howard: Yeah.

Jerry Thompson: Absolutely.

Haylie: Wow.

So you got volun-told, right?

Olivia Howard: Just like our husbands and wives.

Jerry Thompson: It worked.

We've mentioned a lot about our history.

Jerry Thompson: We're more about our future.

The next festival well start planning, when this festival is over.

Charlie, Craig, Olivia, Jerry: Oans, zwoa, drei, gsuffa!

Haylie: Even a knee injury wasn't going to keep me from giving schuhplattler.

Man 1: That's it.

Haylie: Because you plot your shoes.

Try.

Man 1: So yeah when we start and when we start you're going to put your hands up before and then you're going to stomp your right as best as you can.

Haylie: Okay Man 1: so you go stomp and then up and then one two, which is different than every other time because usually go every other right.

Haylie: Okay.

Man 1: so we're going to stomp step one, two, left, Gotta that one out of there.

Oh, left, right, left.

Haylie: Okay.

I think I'll leave this one to the pros.

(Music) (Music) (Music) Haylie: Through history, heritage and celebration, Frankenmuth has a deep commitment to community and it's evident throughout the town in Bavarian fashion.

I say “Prost ” to the next festival we find.

You can visit finding festivals.com to learn more about the series, get updates through the digital newsletter and connect with me on social media where you can access more content on festival fun.

This is Herman the German, how are you doing today?

Fantastic.

I am too.

Jerry Thompson: Was served at the Bavarian Inn.

Olivia Howard: how do you know that?

Jerry Thompson: Because I was there!

Haylie: You forgot about the butt.

Cam op: I did.

Haylie: The Butt?

Cam op: I know Haylie: you can't forget about the butt.

Mary Anne Ackerman: let me start that piece over.

Haylie: Keg opening right or bust.

How do you Al Zehnder: Keg tapping.

Haylie: Tapping.

We tap it.

I was going to say pop it like that doesnt sound right.

The prices of merchandise went up 6 to 8 times.

They suffered inflation back then too.

Is there anything we're filming here We have the pretzels, we got the cheese, we got boozy shakes Jamie Furbush: And entertainment.

Haylie: You want to go now?

Jamie Furbush: Let's go.

Let's go.

(Music) Announcer: Finding festivals is brought to you in part by.

Hailey: On the next episode of Finding Festivals.

Man: Yeah, he comes along quickly.

She, she always complains, she walks away and then she comes back and I'm halfway done, so.

Haylie: this tastes amazing.

I love the cream inside It's light but sweet as you would expect a pumpkin pie and.

Oh.

Man 2: Okay.

Ready?

Both: One, two.

Arrr!

Haylie: Your daughter is performing in the festival?

Woman 1: Yeah, she's performing in the Tyagaraja Aradhana.

That's the annual festival is actually the largest outside of India, very.

Culturally relevant festival.

Haylie: All that and more on finding festivals.

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