U-Matic

German Festival Beer Wagon, 6/9/89

U-Matic S tape containing footage of shot of at the 1989 German Festival in Hart Plaza on June 9th. The video includes footage of a horse-drawn beer wagon on Woodward Avenue, musicians, food, and attendees in Hart Plaza.

The video begins with a shot of the horse-drawn Frankenmuth Brewing Company beer wagon moving south along Woodward Avenue from Clifford Street toward Hart Plaza. A woman in a dirndl and a "German American Princess" sash rides in the cart, along with a man and several cases and kegs of beer. The cart is preceded by a German marching band clad in lederhosen or dirndl, and a pair of mounted police who direct traffic. A banner on the side of the cart promotes the German Riverfront Ethnic Festival. The cart passes the Payless ShoeSource and Picway Shoes on the south corner of Woodward and Clifford, as well as the Spirit of Detroit statue.

Once the wagon arrives in front of Hart Plaza, people gather to pet the horses. The camera cuts between the horses and the band performing on a small adjacent stage. A man seated in front of the Pylon waves his arms and legs along with the music. After a cut, two members of the marching band play trumpet and accordion for the camera from the platform around the Pylon.

After another cut, the camera moves to the amphitheater area where people eat as the band gets ready to play. The camera focuses on the people eating their lunches, and gets a shot of the Renaissance Center in the background. Eventually the band members-who are also all clad in German folk costume-begin to play. Banners embroidered with "GACC" (for the German-American Cultural Center) are hung from the band's music stands.

After a brief shot of a man dancing to the band, the camera moves to the underground food court area. Here the people working the GBU Saxonia's Cafe Zum Rendezvous's stand show pastries, a large Frankenmuth banner is hung form the beer counter, and bratwursts are cooked up and served at the Hans' Meat Shop counter.

The camera then returns to the pylon for the final shot, where the trumpet and accordion player continue to play, now joined by the woman in the sash.

The recording is on a 3M UCA-30s U-Matic S tape with a handwritten 3M label on its top. The tape is housed within a black plastic latching case with a City of Detroit Department of Public Information Video Production label on its cover.