Prost! Vail celebrates 50 years of Oktoberfest. Meet the yodeling, accordion-playing, alpenhorn-blowing celebrity at the heart of it

By Michael Hughes
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3min 03sec
Photo shows a man seated on stage playing an accordion. He is in front of a blue and white checkered background and he is wearing a blue and white checkered shirt, lederhosen and a Bavarian hat. He is smiling.
Courtesy Oktoberfest Vail
Helmut Fricker performs at Vail's Lionshead Village in 2023. Fricker has been a staple of the festival since the first year in 1975.

Every September for the last 50 years, the Vail Valley has reveled in beer, brats, keg bowling and polka for an annual Oktoberfest celebration. Since the first, modest get-together in 1975, one man has been at the heart of all that Bavarian revelry.

“I said, ‘Let’s do an Oktoberfest!’” recalls 89-year-old Helmut Fricker. “I talked to the chamber of commerce, they set it up at Golden Peak in Vail. There was a stage, a few benches and that’s it. 250 people showed up.”

Now it’s more like 50,000 attendees. Organizer Brian Nolan says the main draw is Helmut Fricker.

“Helmut was playing for people years ago that their kids and their kids’ kids are now coming to Vail and enjoying the event,” said Nolan. “It’s definitely become a generational thing and Helmut being there all these years has the connection from one generation to the next.”

The German native survived World War II and came to the U.S. with his family in 1969. Fricker received his first accordion as a childhood birthday present, and still plays that very instrument to this day. He also yodels and plays the 10-feet-plus-long alpenhorn.

Image shows a man in traditional lederhosen holding a stein to the left of a bronze sculpture of a man named Helmut Fricker. On the right is a woman in a green dress with a beige coat. They are in front of a stone pillar with plants on left side of the photo.
Courtesy Oktoberfest Vail
Artist Steven Whyte and his wife pose with the life-sized bronze statue of Helmut Fricker, commissioned to celebrate his decades of entertaining and bringing life to Beaver Creek. The statue was unveiled at the Oktoberfest opening ceremonies.

“I’m not so much a musician. I call myself an entertainer. People come by and say, ‘Oh, Helmut, remember? Twenty years ago, you played for my wedding!’ Or, ‘I have a picture of you holding my 3-month-old. And I have a picture of you holding me when I was a little baby!’”

Over the decades, Helmut Fricker has entertained presidents and other world leaders. He's seen his likeness on beer steins and bobbleheads. Beaver Creek recently unveiled a larger-than-life bronze statue of him.

Image shows two women in traditional Oktoberfest dresses standing on either side of a bronze sculpture of a man named Helmut Fricker. They are in front of a stone pillar with plants on either side.
Courtesy Oktoberfest Vail
Elisabeth and Kristina Edrington pose with a statue of their grandfather Helmut Fricker at the Beaver Creek Oktoberfest opening ceremonies.

“Well, I look at it and I feel stiff,” joked Fricker. “It’s beyond belief. I don’t have any words for it, how proud I am. Now I need my own beer!”

Helmut Fricker will perform with his band The Rhinelanders this weekend in Vail Village for the resort town’s 50th annual Oktoberfest.

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