It’s tough to tell if Prince Ludwig and his wife Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen would approve of a dueling beer bong performance at the 199th anniversary of their wedding, but the first night of a two-day Oktoberfest party at the Turn Verein in Sacramento was home to this unlikely of concerts.

For 42 years Sacramento's German community has been celebrating its heritage with anybody who wants to join in. The $10 admission allowed attendees to partake in traditional German music, dancing and great company.

Food and beverages were distributed using tickets, with one dollar buying a single meal ticket. Beer and sausage were just three tickets, potato salad was two, and some of the larger meals, such as roast chicken or the authentic pig's knuckle, were nine. Economy was the key, and $10 for two German beers, a sausage and a side was an unbeatable deal, especially for the quality.

In typical Oktoberfest fashion, the beer was the biggest draw. It isn't often one can sample the products of world famous breweries like Spaten and Hofbrauhaus, and even more rare to do so for only $3 a pint, but all of the major German beers were present and accounted for.

While Spaten's flagship pilsner flowed through most of the taps, several Oktoberfest styled beers were also on the menu. Richer than the pilsners and with a reddish copper hue to reflect the changing of the seasons, these beers are heavy on the malt and thus are perfect for the cooler months.

And the purveyors take pride in what they do, evidenced when one of the pourers tapped a new keg of Paulaner Oktoberfest and gave yours truly the first beer from it on the house on account of the inevitable foam that builds when fresh beer runs through the line.

Like all annual festivals, the central theme to Oktoberfest is tradition, and our local take on the biggest party in the world stuck pretty close to its roots. Men in lederhosen and women in dirndls performed German dance numbers as a modernized polka band played waltzes to accompany them.

Whenever the hundreds of people in the main hall quieted down from the dull roar common for most of the night, the band's singer would raise his Maß (liter) mug in a proust, shouting the phrase popularized by "The Man Show" -- "Zicke, Zacke, Zicke, Zacke, Hoi, Hoi, Hoi!" -- before leading everyone in taking massive gulps from their cups, glasses, and, in one true partyer's case, a massive glass boot.

The cuisine was as authentic as it gets. Bratwursts on kaiser rolls were the most popular (and reasonable) item, but the huge helpings of chicken most closely emulated the dishes served at the real thing 5,500 miles away. Those who really wanted to get traditional went one step further and ordered the pig's knuckle, though only the hardiest of hearts actually dined on the steaming platter of skin and gristle.

There was absolutely no Americanization in any of the food; no compromises whatsoever. Weisswurst, a type of sausage made with veal that is far less popular than its darker cousin, was even available for those who weren't feeling like pork that night.

All of the beer and meals could be bought on both floors of the Turn Verein, with the second floor featuring a rock band performing covers of The Beatles and other popular fare, while music act on the main floor was far more traditional, right down to their clothing.

In short, the gathering at this year's Oktoberfest was absolutely massive. Like the party in Munich, getting from one side of a room to another required strategic planning and execution by way of weaving through throngs of very contented people. If Ludwig and Therese had been there that evening, the smiles, food and ample beer supply would surely be enough to satisfy them.