More than 400 volunteers have been working for months to get ready for the 39th annual Oktoberfest, which opens at the American German Club in Lake Worth Friday. Over the next two weekends, more than 20,000 people are expected to come out to eat authentic German food, drink German beer and do the popular chicken dance.

This local Oktoberfest started as a Sunday picnic very much like the first Oktoberfest in Germany when King Ludwig threw a weekend party to celebrate his wedding in 1810.

Nothing says Oktoberfest like beer, and you’ll find four authentic German beers by Hofbrau — Oktoberfest, a dark beer, a wheat beer and the regular lager beer or “what the Germans call light beer,” Brent Wacker, the vice president of the club, said. “We’re also serving large German festival pretzels at all beer booths. These are the perfect combination of crunchy and chewy. We have a new wine booth this year to cater to wine drinkers, and a Jägermeister booth too.”

Many come to watch the authentic German bands perform. Dressed in lederhosen and tyrolean hats, an American Oktoberfest band must know two important songs: The Chicken Dance and the Florida state song (Stephen Foster’s Old Folks at Home).

The Heldensteiner Band “comes straight from a beer tent in Munich,” Wacker said. When the 16-day long German Oktoberfest ends, the band “gets a half-day of rest and they’re on a plane to America. Once they get here, they play all night with just a couple of breaks.”

The club also invited a new four-piece band, Bayern Blosn, this year, which plays German favorites as well as some original material. “They are really entertaining, and they do even more interacting with the crowd,” Wacker said.

Although mostly a celebration of German customs and culture – think lederhosen and dirndls, beer and bratwurst – dancers from other cultures also perform. See the Sea Turtle Tappers, Palm Beach Pipes & Drums, Kristi Line Dancers, Tir Na Greine Irish Dancers and the Ukranian Dancers in addition to the three traditional Bavarian dance groups who will perform: Auerhahn Schuhplattler, Volkstanzgruppe and Edelweiss Schuhplattler.

If you have a competitive streak, consider entering “masskrugstemmen,” a beer-stein holding contest. It’s not a drinking game. It’s a test of strength and endurance. For a $20 entry fee, you get an official Hofbrau stein to keep, filled with 1 liter of beer. The object is to hold the stein straight out in front of you for the longest. The winner gets a cash prize.

There’s also a carnival for kids and vendors selling German goods.

The success of Oktoberfest is simple, Wacker said: “I think the whole event is fun and people want to be a part of it. Oktoberfest is a worldwide party.”