Santa Clarita residents attended the German Cultural Festival at the Canyon Country Community Center on Friday, Sept. 13, from 6-9 p.m. Attendees listened to German Polka music, created German-inspired crafts and gained insight into German culture. This German celebration was a part of a bigger set of events called “Celebrate” hosted by the city of Santa Clarita, meant to highlight new countries each month.
From April to September, a new country was featured each month: Brazil in April, South Korea in May, Sweden in June, Cuba in July, Japan in August and Germany in September. Event organizer Cali Nocella explained the process of how each country was selected for the events: “We’ve been having people fill out what countries or cultures they want to see celebrated next year, and we’ve got a lot of great feedback from people [about] countries we hadn’t really thought about before.”
Upon entering the festival, a large inflatable archway displayed the Celebrate logo and welcomed incoming event-goers. Booths lined the front of the celebration and a performance stage was positioned near the back.
While the German Celebrate event was decked with splashes of red, orange and black, each Celebrate event had its own specialized decoration. Attendee Aileen Doriguzzi added, “When they did Peru, they had a fake Machu Picchu tent [to] walk through.”
The event featured sponsor booths, arts and crafts, German-manufactured cars from BMW and food trucks like Wetzel’s Pretzels. Attendees also competed in a beer stein holding contest, a traditional contest from southern Germany where participants test their strength by holding a liter of beer with one hand. Children played in the open space and families enjoyed live Polka music from a band performing on stage near the back of the event.
This event, like many others, depended on the aid of volunteers to smoothly run all the festivities. Fran Wagener, an event volunteer, and a native German, explained why she wanted to help out at the event: “I offered to help out here because I thought it would be nice to represent my country in Santa Clarita. I was so excited when I heard that they would do one about Germany.” Wagener’s booth featured a German pronunciation game and a place where attendees asked questions about Germany and its culture.
Overall, Wagner’s favorite part of the festival was getting to interact with people. “[I enjoy] all the people I can talk to it’s really amazing. [There are many] different people coming up here to our booth and [I like] just getting to know people.”
Jersey Mike’s, a sponsor of the event, had a booth that featured a prize wheel where attendees could spin to win coupons. Jersey Mikes was also present at this year’s July Celebrate event for Cuba.
As a new addition to Santa Clarita, the Celebrate event series has given opportunities for locals to experience and appreciate different cultures. Doriguzzi added , “It’s opening everyone’s eyes to how we’re all the same, but we’re all different too. Celebrating our differences but [also] the things that we all enjoy [like] music, arts and culture.“
So wildcats, make sure to keep an eye out for the release of the 2025 “Celebrate” series schedule by checking the City of Santa Clarita website.
