Amana prepares for Maifest weekend

AMANA — As the first of May nears, so does Amana Colonies’ annual Maifest celebration.

A traditional German festival, Maifest is still celebrated in many communities settled by Germans, including the villages that form the Amana Colonies in Iowa County.

The Amana Society Bulletin released a schedule for the weekend in its most recent issue.

The Amana Maipole Dancers will perform at Millstream Brewing Company in Amana at 7 p.m. Friday, but Maifest officially kicks off Saturday, May 3.

The Maifest parade begins at 10 a.m. Saturday. Visitors will see street-side entertainment and pop-up vendors throughout Amana.

Children will be admitted free to the museum in Amana and to the communal kitchen in Middle Amana Friday through Sunday and to the Homestead Church Saturday.

A face painter and balloon artist will available to children at the Peace Garden just outside the Visitor’s Center from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Ackerman Winery will offer a caterpillar craft from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, children purchase geodes and have them cracked open at the Ox Yoke Inn. They make their own Maipoles at Four Winds Apothecary from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Noble Stone will offer treasure mining from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Many children’s crafts continue Sunday.

Amana Heritage Society volunteers will serve classic Maifest foods in the Festhalle, 4707 220th Trail, Saturday.

A World on Wheels pop-up food fair will open outside the Festhalle starting about 10 a.m.

Entertainment will include Blame Not the Bard, an Irish band that has been performing across the Midwest since it began in 2015 as a side project among friends.

Blame Not the Bard will perform from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday and again from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the Festhalle.

The Robert Thomas Dancenter Irish Step Dancers will perform from 2:30-3:15 p.m.

Josh Sinclair, who performs original music as well as cover tunes, and Barry Boyce Band, a polka band well-known by visitors to Maifest, will provide music all day Saturday at Millstream Brewing Company, 835 48th Ave.

Barefoot Becky & The Ivanhoe Dutchmen, a Mount Vernon band that plays German, Czech and Slovenian style polkas and waltzes, a cup of country, will provide music on the lawn of Ronneburg Restaurant, 4408 220th Trail, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Maipole dancers will perform Saturday at the Festhalle at 11 a.m., at Amana Heritage Museum at 11:45 p.m., at Amana General Store at 12:15 p.m. and at the Festhalle at 2 p.m.

At 2:30 p.m. the Maipole dancers will be found at Amana Meat Shop, and at 3:15 p.m., at Brau Haus.

The dancers will perform again Sunday at 11 a.m. Amana Meat Shop, at 12:30 p.m. at Amana General Store, at 1:15 at Amana Visitor Center and at 2 p.m. in the Blumen Haus area.

All dances will be moved to the Festhalle in the event of rain.

On Sunday, Hudson & Overly, an acoustic classic rock duo, will perform live at Millstream Brewing Co. from 1—4 p.m.

Sunday afternoon, visitors to Amana can take part in the Wine and Food Walk from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Visitors 21 or older purchase $5 passports at any participating winery or brewery and enjoy samples as they visit each location.

The first 275 participants to complete the walk receive a complimentary Maifest wineglass.