Remember when you’d pull people to a German festival by mentioning Bavaria or the Alps? Now, Hunter Mountain’s advertising its annual oom-pah-pah good time set for this Saturday, August 13 and 14 – which has been running for decades – as a “Brats and Brews Festival.” There will be traditional German-American foods, Schuhplattler dancers and loads of vendors selling handmade arts and crafts, as well as those almost-cool-again Tyrolean hats and dirndl dresses and fun activities for the kids.

The weekend-long event kicks off an August that continues on the 20th and 21st with the always-popular Celtic Festival, featuring a finale extravaganza that includes hundreds of bagpipers marching down the ski slopes, as well as the first-ever Bluestock Festival on August 26 and 27.

Headlining “Brats and Brews,” besides the Karl Ehmer meats and various German beers on tap, will be 18-time Grammy-winner Jimmy Sturr and his Band, considered the longstanding kings of polka, along with a host of up-and-comer accordion-based ensembles, some of them young and a bit more brash than the usual two-step faves. Camping will be available, along with music at the Hunter Mountain summit, reachable by chairlift.

As for Sturr, who cares if he’s an Irish-American from Orange County, just to our south? He has sold out most major halls around the country with his infectious polka, and hit the record books as one of the most-nominated musicians of any genre, ever.

For tickets and more info regarding Brats and Brews, formerly the Hunter Mountain German Alps Festival, call (800) 486-8376 or visit www.huntermtn.com/huntermtn/festivals.