Although my wild and crazy nights out dancing until the sun comes up like God’s flashlight, were in my 20’s and are behind me, I was interested to see how they celebrate ‘Tanz in den Mai’ in Germany. An exciting Saturday night for me now might consist of a tournament of Candy Land and doing Mickey’s Hot Dog Dance. However, this 30th of April we were going to have a groovy night out dancing May in!
Our blog Tanz in den Mai, Party with Witches! told about the history of this mischievous yet fun day and it also had a list of events around Germany. My party destination of choice was the Bavarian themed Brauhaus Castel in Mainz-Kastel. They offer delicious Bavarian food, brew their own beer and they were throwing a party with a band that started much earlier than most of the other parties. When I say earlier I mean the party doors open at the same time as I switch off my nightlight to go to sleep. So, since wearing your pajamas and having an exhausted 5-year-old at a club is normally frowned upon…the Brauhaus Castel was a perfect choice.
The restaurant has a fantastic party atmosphere! You get to party hearty and eat like a Bavarian while saving the 5-hour drive to Munich. I ordered my sparkling apple juice and was so ready to order dinner before the dance party started.
Since it is prime spargel time I ordered from the seasonal menu. For an appetizer I got spargel crème soup and it was so incredibly delicious! Every year I look forward to ordering it.
Even though I didn’t want it to end, after my appetizer the party music started the place was filling up with people dressed in their dancing outfits and also some really nice older ladies were doing a raffle for a children’s charity. For one euro each you could pick a mysterious mini-scroll and possibly win a prize.
Our dance in May luck was strong because we won!
The restaurant was pretty much packed at this point and we danced our way across the dance floor to go to the back beer garden. They have a nice little playground for kids to go on while parents sip some fresh brewed beer, or like me, take a break from dancing and wait for your main course.
I just couldn’t pass up that temporary spargel menu so I ordered, yup you guessed it, more spargel. With buttered potatoes and a big side of Hollandaise sauce, the spargel was fantastic!
Now with a belly seriously filled with spargel, the last thing on my mind would be to go boogie down and do the spargel twist on the dance floor. But May was only hours away and we came here on a mission to dance May in! We might have been the youngest ones there, but for sure we were the worst dancers on the floor! Oma and Opa sure know how to two-step together and it beat our step-side-to-side and clap action. The dance floor was moving like a well-oiled machine and we were pretty much just getting in the way.
Saved by the beer! It was time to tap the keg! They did a Bavarian tradition where you sledgehammer the tap into the first keg of a party. You yell, O’zapft! to declare that the keg is tapped. Then that barrel is for free and everyone can have some beer. Who doesn’t like free beer?
While this dance in May party just seemed to be picking up some steam, unfortunately ours was running out. However, we had a really fun night out and was glad to experience my first Tanz in den Mai!!
Author’s Profile: Gemma is a mom, a veteran and an Army civilian living in Wiesbaden, Germany. With New Jersey roots, she is enjoying her extended European vacation.
