Society & Culture
HELEN, GEORGIA – Pennie Tour visited the North Georgia town of Helen to partake in Oktoberfest 2010. Not sure what we liked better – the Ompah music or the Bavarian beer! Since 1970, Georgia’s tranquil little town of Helen transforms into the ultimate North Georgia party town! Helen’s Oktoberfest offers Bavarian food, chicken dancing, Polka dancers in native costume, and German beer. Helen became a tourist attraction after the town changed its appearance to make the store fronts look like a Bavarian Alps village. Helen copied Munich, Germany and started celebrating Oktoberfest to draw in even more tourists. Nestled along the Chattahoochee River, Helen receives many tourists in the summer months that take advantage of the river tubing, hiking and other outdoor activities offered. When fall arrives, even more people invade this Bavarian town to view the changing leaves and to involve themselves in Oktoberfest! Helen’s Oktoberfest begins on the second Thursday of September and runs through the first Sunday of November. A parade on the first Saturday of the festival kicks off the celebration. Pennie Tour took in the Bavarian influence of the partygoers and even experienced Helen’s famous dancing man who is a staple of Oktoberfest at Café [...]