Oompah band | German bands for hire | London Dublin Switzerland
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Oompah band booking – how to hire?
It’s easy to book or hire Elmar’s oompah band: just send me an email now. What I need from you: your name, your phone number, your email address. What I need to know about the event: date, start and finish time, occasion, number of guests or visitors. You will then receive an offer from me by email.
If you want to book us, you will receive a contract and an invoice. You pay the first half as a deposit. The second half is due on the day of the event (we accept Paypal) before our appearance.
What makes us different from most oompah bands
There are a great many oompah bands in Germany. Three things separate us from most of them, and all three matter far more for a corporate booking than for a village beer festival.
We work outside Germany — most oompah bands do not
The typical German oompah band plays within driving distance of home: Volksfeste, beer gardens, tent festivals, the local Schützenfest. That is a perfectly good living, and it is a completely different job from ours.
We are built for the opposite. We fly, we hire the sound equipment locally at your venue, we book our own hotels, and we sing in eight languages — because a room in Barcelona or Dublin will not follow a set that is only in German. Regular destinations: London, Dublin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Zurich and the Swiss resorts, the Gulf states and Asia.
We play corporate events, not beer gardens
A tent festival wants one thing: loud, for four hours. A corporate evening wants three different things in sequence — quiet enough to talk over during the reception and the meal, then a show set that fills the floor, then something that still works at one in the morning.
In practice that means playing to a running order agreed in advance, fitting around speeches and courses, coordinating with production teams and venue managers, and being where we said we would be at the time we said it. It also means a contract and a proper invoice, which event agencies and finance departments need — and which not every band can produce.
We are full-time musicians, not weekend players
This is the difference clients notice only when it matters. Most oompah musicians in Germany have a day job and play at weekends. For a Tuesday event in another country they would have to take holiday — the same reason booking Bavarian dancers for a weekday performance away from home costs each of them two days off work.
Every member of our band is formally trained, vocally or on their instrument, and does this full-time. That means we are available on weekdays, we can travel for several days at a stretch, and we can commit to a date months ahead without checking it against somebody’s shift roster.
What that looks like on the night
Authentic lederhosen rather than costume-shop imitations. Line-ups from a single strolling accordion player to a full stage band with vocals and percussion. Roaming performances through a foyer, interactive sing-alongs, and hosting in English, German or French. The repertoire is Oktoberfest anthems, oompah brass, polkas, waltzes and Schlager, alongside the international party songs your guests already know.
Line-ups: what you get for one to five musicians
The line-up is the biggest single factor in what a booking costs, because every additional musician means another flight and another hotel room. Here is what each one brings, so you can decide before asking for a quote.
| Line-up | Musicians | Instruments and voices |
|---|---|---|
| Solo | 1 | Elmar: accordion, lead vocals, yodelling |
| Duo | 2 | plus brass: euphonium (baritone), trumpet, alphorn |
| Trio | 3 | plus a professional female singer |
| Quartet / quintet | 4–5 | additional musicians on request |
How booking an oompah band actually works
- You write. Send your name, phone number and e-mail, plus the date, start and finish time, the occasion and the number of guests or visitors.
- You get an offer by e-mail — a real figure for your event, not a price range.
- You get a contract and an invoice if you want to go ahead.
- You pay half as a deposit. The second half is due on the day of the event, before we play. PayPal is accepted.
What drives the price up or down
- Number of musicians — each one adds a flight and a hotel room
- Distance — the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria and northern France we reach by car; the UK, Ireland and everything further afield means flights
- Arrival day — inside Europe we can usually arrive the same day; long-haul means arriving the day before
- Sound equipment — for acoustic and mobile performances none is needed at all
- Length and structure of the evening — background music during dinner costs less than a full show plus DJ set until two in the morning
Acoustic, amplified, or both
We work as a 360° band, which matters more than it sounds. Fully acoustic and mobile, walking through your venue with no PA system at all, we reach an audience of up to 100 people — the format that works at trade fairs, receptions and drinks in the foyer. Amplified on stage, we cover a full hall. Most events use both: mobile during the reception, on stage after the meal.
When we fly in, we hire the sound equipment locally and book our own hotel rooms. You do not have to organise either.
What we actually play
The mix is the one you hear in the Munich beer tents, which is the point: German folk music, polkas and waltzes from Bavaria, Tyrol and Oberkrain, German Schlager, and international party songs your guests already know. We sing and yodel, and we sing in eight languages — English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Turkish and Russian.
That last point decides more evenings than people expect. A Bavarian band that only knows the German repertoire will lose a room in Barcelona or Dublin around the third song. Ours does not.
Questions people ask before booking
How far in advance should I book?
The Oktoberfest season from mid-September to early October fills up first, often months ahead. Outside that window there is usually more room, but the earlier you ask, the more line-ups are still available for your date.
Do you speak English on stage?
Yes. Elmar speaks German, English and French fluently and hosts the evening in whichever of the three suits your guests. The band is used to audiences that do not speak a word of German.
Do you bring your own sound system abroad?
No — for flights we hire equipment from a local company at your venue. For events we can reach by car, we bring our own. Either way it is part of the quote, not an extra you have to arrange.
Can you play without any sound system at all?
Yes, and it is one of the things we are booked for most often. Fully acoustic we reach up to 100 people, which is why trade fair stands and receptions tend to choose the mobile format.
What happens if the event is cancelled?
If your event has to be cancelled because of force majeure, you get everything back.
Do you also bring Bavarian dancers?
Schuhplattler dancers can be arranged for events in Munich and Bavaria. It is a single performance of under ten minutes, usually placed after the main course.