Everyone’s heard of the enormous beer orgy known as Octoberfest. It’s basically the world’s largest excuse to get together and celebrate the beauty of beer and good friends (mostly beer). Well, you don’t have to shell out tons of money for a trans-Atlantic voyage to experience such an uberparty. There’s one held every year right in our own back yard.

The annual America’s Oktoberfest is held in Cincinnati every year, and this year’s bash promises to be one for the record books. People want to have a good time and people want to forget all of the shit that’s wrong with the world. What better way than to down a few gallons of German bier? I personally can’t think of any.

On Sept. 19th and 20th, Cincinnati will be transformed into Zinzinnati USA. More than half-a-million herren und frauen will converge on a six-block area to eat, sing, mingle, sport lederhosen, listen to polka music, try to speak German and perform the Chicken Dance.

I don’t condone the Chicken Dance in any way, but consumption of beer can relax the rules a bit. The event will also feature five stages showcasing continuous live German music as well as more than 40 food and drink vendors.

Ein bier bitte! More than 800 barrels of beer, or 1.6 million ounces, are consumed each year at Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati. And a wunderbar array of beers will be on tap including Spaten, Erdinger, Beck’s and Christian Moerlein, a Cincinnati-based micro-brew.

Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati, presented by Samuel Adams and The Simpsons 20th Anniversary on FOX, is the largest Oktoberfest celebration in the country and the second largest in the world. And admission is free.

For more info head over to www.oktoberfestzinzinnati.com. Prost!