Published 11:00 pm Tuesday, September 30, 2025
By BILL BRADSHAW | Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — Beer, brats and Bavarian music were once again on the menu, brightening up the weekend during the 2025 Oregon’s Alpenfest.
The entire event ran Wednesday, Sept. 24, to Sunday, Sept. 28.
This year, not only did events take place in Enterprise and Joseph, but it was expanded by one night to Lostine when M.Crow hosted the “Idle Vice Duo” (a play on “Edelweiss”) of Matt Cooper and Alan Feves for the evening Wednesday. Cooper, on the accordion, is a professor of music at Eastern Oregon University. Feves lives in La Grande. The duo also played at Terminal Gravity in Enterprise on Thursday.
Also at TG was the husband-wife alphorn duo of Phil and Gayle Neuman with their long horns traditionally used to call in cattle from the hills. No cattle responded to the Neumans’ calls this week.
They moved their horns to the Joseph Community Events Center on Friday and Saturday for more concerts and then to the top of Mount Howard on Sunday where some 75 people rode the Wallowa Lake Tram up to hear them perform at the summit for a real Swiss-like experience.
Although he didn’t have exact numbers, Alpenmeister Stefan Hasselblad — now in his third year as the lederhosen-clad alpenmeister — said he believes the entire event drew in about 30% more people this year than in 2024, when some 1,200 attended.
Familiar to Alpelfest-goers was music by the Polkatones, and Bavarian dancing by the Tirolean Dancers that included waltzes, polkas and folk music from the Swiss Alps. They were brought to the Oregon Alps and filled the events center on Friday and Saturday.
Hasselblad said the outdoor Alpenfair at the events center drew many who came and went to see the wide variety of vendors, selling food, art and trinkets tied to Alpenfest. Hasselblad credited Alpenfair emcee Steve Leslie Ide and the additional music by Janet Richards and Norbert Schneider, “Jani & Norby.”
Hasselblad said the annual Joe Ehrler Memorial Scholarship drew in about $4,000 from ticket sales and donations. The recipient of the scholarship will be decided upon when the Alpenfest board meets Oct. 6. It is designed to fund a young person’s attendance at a trade school, going along with Ehrler’s fondness for such education. He was an electrician.
The scholarship is administered by the Rotary Club of Wallowa County.
One element that was missing this year was the ceremonial tapping of the first keg TG brewed for Alpenfest.
“We just changed things up this year,” Hasselblad said. “TG donated most of the beer and we thought we didn’t need to do that.”
He said TG donated five kegs to the event and gave a special discount on three more. M.Crow donated three kegs.
The donations go along with the organizers’ encouraging in-kind donations along with volunteering.
“We really rely on volunteers and had 40-50 this year,” Hasselblad said. “Lodging was donated, too, for the musicians.”
He also spoke highly of the Stubborn Mule, which donated the use of its beer trailer, and Joseph Hardware, which provided ice.
“We can’t really do it without those donations,” Hasselblad said.
Beer, brats, Bavarian music return to Wallowa County – Wallowa County Chieftain
