Founded back in 1810 as a royal Bavarian wedding celebration, Oktoberfest has turned into an annual good reason to celebrate the harvest by drinking great beer, eating fattening foods and working yourself into a lederhosen-sporting frenzy with all your grosse freundes (great friends). This year, before you head up to Snowbird’s Oktoberfest, you’re going to need to learn just a bisschen (bit) of the Deutsch language beyond guten tag. Yes, to navigate Utah’s coolest winter resort months before a blanket of white covers the joint, it will be helpful to have a few words tucked into your back pocket—that way, you won’t look like a complete dummen kopf. As a start, you should practice the phrase, “Kann ich noch ein bier und wurst, bitte?” (Can I get another beer and sausage, please?) The Halle, for your information, is the tent full of all the merriment such as German bands, yodeling, dancing and consuming of all that bratwurst, sauerkraut, apfelstrudel, bier and more. Close by is Kinderland, a place to let the youngsters roam free. And Der Marktplatz is, as you might guess, the area where vendors gather together to showcase their stylish and discounted wares.

This 17-day party has turned into one of the largest annual festivals in Utah since its inception in 1974, slowly becoming the premier place for Bavarians the region over to gather to pine for and fondly reminisce about their homeland, all the while accompanied by the best hillside Alphorn performances this side of the Rhine.

Oktoberfest @ Snowbird Resort, Highway 210, Little Cottonwood Canyon Road, 801- 933-2115, Saturdays, Sundays and Labor Day through Oct. 10, 12-6 p.m., free. SnowbirdRC.org