Get out your lederhosen ! Next Friday evening, the East End of the Island is going to be celebrating autumn with a healthy dose of oomph -- or, if you want to be more precise, oompah .

At 7 p.m. on October 27, the Corporation of St. George's will kick off its first-ever Octoberfest, a five-hour celebration of German food, music and, of course, beer.

While the event -- which is part of the Corporation's long-term plan to attract more people to the East End and prove in no uncertain terms that the people of St. George's are indeed fun-loving -- may not rival its older and more famous precursor in Munich, it does promise to be both diverting and wide-reaching, with the Wharf Tavern Jam Band on hand to whip Octoberfesters into the proper Germanic spirit and two local companies, Bermuda Triangle Brewing Ltd. and Gosling Brothers Ltd., providing at least seven kinds of lager to enliven that spirit even more.

"Judging from the underground response,'' said Mr. Robin Cassel, one of the chief organisers of the event, "it should be well-attended. And if this whole Octoberfest thing kicks off nicely, it might become an annual occurrence.'' According to the main organising committee, which also includes Mr. Kenny Munro and Ms Lynda Johnson, this year's festivities in the Penno's Wharf ferry terminal will consist of a buffet dinner of such popular Rhineland fare as sauerkraut, sausages and frankfurters (the meal is included with the $10 price of getting in to Octoberfest) and "a very wide variety of fun and unusual activities'' -- most notably a series of beer-drinking competitions (including variations that involve both steins and yard-long glasses).

Since, of course, the celebration of Octoberfest is by tradition alcoholic, the event, organisers warned, is not for the small fry.

"It is not a family affair,'' Mr. Munro told Taste. "We will have plenty of events in which the whole family can participate. But this one is definitely for adults only.'' Indeed, the Corporation of St. George has already engineered a full roster of cultural events in the town this year, including the traditional springtime Seniors Tea, the well-received Portuguese Festival that was held in June and this month's inaugural Fish Chowder Festival.

Next year, moreover, promises even more activities.

"We hope to give the West End of the Island -- and particularly Dockyard -- a run for its money,'' said Mr. Munro, who cited a folk music festival, a regular Sunday flea market and an annual Guy Fawkes Day event as some of the ten options that the Town of St. George is weighing for 1996.

At the same time, the Octoberfest celebrations next Friday have also been organised with a mind to enlivening another St. George's tradition that's already become very popular: The annual New Year's Eve party in the centre of the Old Town.

"We have a lot of funds to raise in that regard,'' said Ms Johnson, who is currently the Corporation's acting director. "While in the past we've relied primarily on donations (to stage the New Year's Eve festivities), the cultural events that we have organised in St. George all through this year will be going primarily to that.'' Last New Year's Eve, the annual celebrations, which are held on Ordnance Island and always include an elaborate fireworks display, attracted some 8,000 to 9,000 people to St. George, the organising committee said.

This year the festivities will also include a piper for the first time and local performers Legacy as some of the featured attractions.

In the meantime the Octoberfest events at Penno's Wharf on Friday night should satisfy partygoers from all across the Island until December rolls around.

"It's going to knock (the Munich version of Octoberfest) down,'' Mr. Cassel said in a tongue-in-cheek reference to the larger German event.

"It'll be better!'' chimed in Ms Johnson, who later told Taste: "People think that St. George's is so far away, but we really do have a lot to offer.

All they have to do is come down to see how much.'' Anyone who would like to make a donation toward the St. George's New Year's Eve festivities can do so by calling Ms Johnson at 297-1532. Tickets for the Town's Octoberfest celebrations, which will run from 7 p.m. to 12 p.m. on October 27, cost $10 apiece and are available by calling the above number or at the door.