Hilton Colombo celebrates 27th year of original Oktoberfest

• From 31 October to 9 November

Sri Lanka’s biggest and most authentic Oktoberfest is happening at the Hilton Colombo from 31 October to 9 November at the grand air conditioned marquee. Celebrate the much-anticipated festival with great Bavarian fare from pretzels to brats, brews and music.

Oktoberfest may have its roots in Munich but you don’t have to go to Germany to enjoy this annual celebration. You can party at the most popular festival with the oompah band all the way from Bavaria playing their tunes whilst you tuck into some Bavarian fare prepared by Executive Chef Robert Mujagic and his vivacious culinary team. Lots of action stations from carveries to batter fried fish for those who do not desire the meats. The intake will be great so keep the dates free. It is the most popular and successful event patronised by the local and expatriate communities. Box office is now open!

Oktoberfest 2019 takes the form of a typical German brew festival serving special brews as will authentic German staples such as bratwurst, schnitzels and sauerkraut that go along with the traditional Oktoberfest celebrations together with entertainment provided by a nine-member Bavarian band and traditional service girls from Munich dressed in ‘Dirndl’, the traditional Bavarian costumes to create the real Oktoberfest atmosphere. Popular activities such as the Chicken Dance, Power Hammer, Brew competitions and daily raffles will be staged throughout the 10 days of celebrations.

The event will be held at the Sports Centre Arena under a huge marquee which can accommodate up to 1,000 guests. There will be three ticket prices; Sunday to Thursday Rs. 2,888 nett and Friday and Saturday Rs. 3,888 nett which includes a Bavarian buffet laden with authentic Bavarian fayre that you can tuck into as much as you want plus a VIP ticket at 

Rs. 5,000 nett which entails butler service.

100% homemade German sausages to original Bavarian recipes are being churned out by the hotel’s butchery closely supervised by the hotel’s German Executive Chef Robert Mujagic who vouches to deliver authentic Bavarian specialties from starters to breads to appetisers and salads, mains and delectable desserts. 

Executive Chef Robert suggests one begins the journey with a fresh Pretzel made with German flour or a slice of an authentic German Sour Dough Loaf with a thick layer of the most awesome cheese spread known as Obatzda; a Camembert mix with paprika powder and soft butter, a thinly sliced Lyoner Sausage with shaved onion in vinaigrette. Then go on to the cold appetisers and salads; Cold Bratwurst sausages with German Potato Salad with chives, shallots and fresh parsley and pickled herrings too. 

Coming to mains, a must try will be the home-made Thüringer Rostbratwurst with a sweet, hot or mild mustard! A few other choices would be the Pork Schnitzel, Knuckle or even the Schweinebraten (pork shoulder) together with some Sauerkraut. The Baked Farmers Meatloaf too is recommended! In addition to these dishes, there’s a whole lot more on the buffet with action cooking. For non-pork eaters, there will be other options available like chicken and fish. “Just to keep the local palate happy we have invented a 100% home-made spicy Sri Lankan Wurst,” says Robert with a smile. 

To end your hearty meal on a happy note, there are some German desserts and a few favs like assorted German cakes; Streusel Kuchen – baked apple and apricot crumble, Black Forest, Linzer Torte, Bee string cake with layers of honey-vanilla butter cream topped with almond flakes and Kaiserschmarrn – shredded pan cake with black raisin, icing sugar and apple sauce and an all-time favourite, the Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce or ice cream!

Executive Chef Robert says ,“More than 1,600 kg of sausages, 5000+ potato dumplings, about 800 kg of Sauerkraut, 1,700 pork knuckles, over 4,000 pork Schnitzels and more items are produced in-house, and we are looking forward to a successful Oktoberfest this year too.”

Sponsors HNB are offering their card holders up to 25% discount from Sunday to Thursday and up to 25% off on Friday and Saturday (terms and conditions apply). Other sponsors are BMW, Emirates and the radio partner being REAL Radio.

For reservations and tickets, please call the Special Events Desk on 2492492.