| Duration | 00:10:39.608 |
| Abstract | Mike Lindsay, a retired UW-Eau Claire faculty member, brought to the History Harvest a spreadsheet of the Chippewa Falls Oktoberfest performers from year one in 2003 through the contracted performers from 2018 – all 16 years of the event. The majority of the musicians who perform at the event perform in a German style such as Polka. The Chippewa Falls Oktoberfest was created as a fall event to promote tourism in the area, as well as to honor the large amount of people with German heritage in this region. The goal for the event is to be as authentically German as possible. Mr. Lindsay, in particular, feels a connection to the event. His wife is from Bavaria, he has attended the Milwaukee Oktoberfest for 47 consecutive years and all 16 years of the Chippewa Falls Oktoberfest, as well as organizing and leading tour groups for the Munich Oktoberfest (2:50). According to Mr. Lindsay, Oktoberfest has brought a sense of identity for many people – sometimes celebrating their own German heritage and sometimes taking on new interests in someone else’s heritage. The event has, apparently, has never been in the red and has put money into the community every year of its existence (9:05). Connecting back to local music, Mr. Lindsay noted that he used to work supervising student teachers for local school districts. Since he worked in all subject areas, he gained a lot of exposure to different groups including both vocal music people and instrumental music people. He believes that these interactions – between himself, the student teachers, and the students – helped to attract many students to UW-Eau Claire (5:26). |
| Owner | Special Collections and Archives, McIntyre Library |
| Type of resource | sound recording |
| Genre | sound |
| Genre authority | marcgt |
| Publisher name | University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire |
| Place of publication | Eau Claire, Wis. |
| Date published | 2018-03-03 |
| Date captured | 2021-05-10 |
| Language | eng |
| Subject geographic | Country: United States State: Wisconsin County: Eau Claire City: Eau Claire |
| Subject topic | history |
| Subject topic | music |
| Subject topic | local history |
| Subject topic | oral history |
| Subject topic | Michael Lindsay |
| Use and reproduction restrictions | Please contact Special Collections and Archives, W.D. McIntyre Library, UW-Eau Claire prior to any forms of reproduction |
| Collection | 07. Sounds of Eau Claire Oral History Interviews, 2017-2019 |
| ID | 632d3bde-99a5-46b6-9596-ad109a35059b/00000001/00000012/00000041 |
