The Department of Languages and World Cultures held Allegheny’s first-ever Rocktoberfest on Oct. 14 in the Gator Quad.

The event — modeled after a German rock festival — offered students the opportunity to learn about German culture and enjoy German foods, activities and, of course, music.

The event was inspired by the popular Bavarian tradition Oktoberfest, combined with elements of German culture as a way of giving students the chance to experience a culture different from their own.

“It’s a good idea to spread culture and arts for people to get in touch with cultures they maybe never meet because they are only at home or on campus, so that you can connect with people from all over the world,” German TA and event organizer Tobias Teckhaus said.

The event sought to bridge the gap between Allegheny students and German culture.

“In Germany, we have so much awesome music that nobody knows, of course because of the language,” Teckhaus said. “We wanted to make a fest where we could show all the hip music we have in Germany: German hip-hop, rock music.”

Teckhaus also remarked that international events like Rocktoberfest improve cross-cultural understanding and give students a better perspective of other cultures, which can help with mitigating culturally-ingrained biases and stereotypes.

“Through getting to know cultures, you’ll open yourself up to people from all over the world,” Teckhaus said.

Aside from the music, the festival also attracted a number of students with food.

“I came for the bread and stayed for the pretzels, ” Destiny Perkins, ’24 said.

Perkins also noted how events like this are important to the campus community and culture because they provide students with an opportunity to learn about other cultures.

Enyche Valier, the French TA, echoed Perkins’ sentiment regarding the sense of community building that events like Rocktoberfest create.

“Discovering other peoples’ culture and spending a nice time together is really nice for the community and helping people grow, and not only on their American view of the world,” Valier said.

Julia Ludewig, assistant professor of German, expressed her appreciation for the event’s lively turnout. She described Rocktoberfest as the department of language and world cultures’ main event of the semester.

“It’s really an event that speaks to people,” Ludewig said.

According to Ludewig, the event drew in a surprising number of students across many departments, allowing her to interact with students she had never seen before.

Ludewig said that this widespread appeal of the event was her favorite part of the experience.

“This is the face of the campus community when it is not inside the classroom,” Ludewig said. “This is what we are about. We are a residential liberal arts campus precisely because we have these kinds of events. I think that really glues us together and gives us the hopefully welcoming identity that we want to project.”

Kaleigh White contributed to the reporting of this story.