I posted yesterday about how Bill and I visited Sindelfingen’s Street Fiesta. This weekend event was a first for us, and we had a great time. Last year, I remember very well visiting Böblingen’s Afrika Fest, which is one of several local Afrika fests held in the summer. In the four years we’ve lived in the Stuttgart area for the second time, we have also attended Afrika fests in Stuttgart and Tübingen. By now, I know it’s a great place to enjoy African products– clothes, food, music, furniture, dishes, and art.
Today, we decided to visit Böblingen’s 2018 Afrika fest. Afterwards, we went back to Sindelfingen, because if I’m honest, there was more food, more entetainment, and more beer. But if your aim is to shop, I will admit that Böblingen is a good place to be during the last weekend in August. Below are pictures from both events, along with my usual comments. I have been drinking… 90% of which was done in Sindelfingen. I’m sure it won’t be hard to determine which fest I liked better.
This guy was on stilts, entertaining everyone…. I got a lot of shots of him.
I bought one of the plates in this photo… The salesman was Tunisian, which meant something to me. I visited there over New Year’s 1977-78.
More Tunisian wares! I want one of those birdcages!
Another salesman. We didn’t stop in.
You had to buy a coupon to get beer or wine. It was a pain in the butt. We did it anyway. I had a glass of wine from South Africa.
Lots of people were enjoying African cuisine, German beer, and Cuban cocktails, along with a mashup of Cuban and African music.
Set up for the afternoon’s performance by an orchestra from Senegal. We didn’t stick around for it, but I bet it was lovely.
Another shot of the guy on stilts. He was very engaging. Bill says this is an West African thing. Wikipedia tells me this is called “Moko jumbie“. “Moko” means healer and “jumbie” means ghost or spirit. He watches over his village and guards it from evil spirits!
Lots of clothes to be had. I’m not a fan of the deep crotched look.
Bill got a turkey shwarma, which was full of turkey, grilled onions, and a “light sauce” with a kick.
He brought me a plate of stuff… this was West African and had chicken, lamb, and possibly pork or beef. I couldn’t tell. It also had cous cous, rice, and peanut sauce, which I loved. And there were two fried dough rolls that were kind of like hushpuppies.
Longer lines for food at the Afrika Fest.
He was everywhere and wanted to be photographed!
Böblingen is quite nice, if you know where to go. This is the Marktplatz, which, in six total years of living in this area, I will admit I have spent very little time.
We left Böblingen at about 2:00 and decided to go back to Sindelfingen. I wanted to try some of the craft beers we missed yesterday. Once we found a place to park, it proved to be more our speed. There’s was more live music, played by the band pictured below…
They were playing good songs and their arrangements were great, but the lead singer was lacking vocal range. Sorry, I really am a snob when it comes to music. But they played stuff by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Golden Earring, AC/DC, and Black Sabbath. Not bad.
Good beer.
Plenty of stuff for the kids to do.
Plenty of food, too… everything from fish n’ chips to burgers, along with some vegetarian selections, sweets, and beers.
We spent a good portion of the afternoon talking to an American guy named Zach who came here from America to get his master’s degree and is now helping to launch Germany’s craft beer scene. I asked him to join my wine and food group, mainly because even though there is a local beer group, I am not in it and I like my beer. Anyway… if you also like your craft beers, you are invited to check out Cast-Brauerei, which has operated since 2010 and has a Web site. You can visit, buy beer, and talk to Zach, who is friendly and knows about Saved By The Bell. Zach’s colleagues recognized us from yesterday, when we were accosted by the drunk guy who was having a very good time trying everything. See my previous post for the story on that.
These fests are now over, but the good news is, they run every year. So if you missed them this year, you can probably catch them next year, if you’re around. And if you come back every year, chances are good you’ll see a lot of the same people. Talk to them. They don’t bite, and will teach you a little something about what is here in Germany. And who knows? You might even make new friends.