Oktoberfest at night
Beer aficionados no longer have to travel to Germany for Oktoberfest
For dedicated beer lovers, fall conjures up images of Oktoberfest, and that means steins the size of toddlers, boisterous drinking songs and waitresses in dirndl skirts.
But attending Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany – the biggest beer festival in the world (this year Sept. 17-Oct. 3) – also involves distance, time and expense.
Fortunately for those whose budgets and schedules preclude the trip, there is plenty to do – and drink – in the U.S. during the fall beer festival season. Think of it as Oktoberfest in America. The festivals can be rambunctious parties, where you have to shout to be heard. Or they can be quieter affairs, with the hum of mingling and a focus on the task at hand: drinking beer.
If you don’t want to travel far at all, Peoria’s Oktoberfest continues today on the Peoria Riverfront from noon to 5 p.m.; admission is $7. A Catholic polka mass, featuring Bishop Daniel Jenky as celebrant and the Ratskeller Brummelers singing in German, is set for 10:30 a.m. It will last about an hour. Anyone who brings a canned food donation for Heart of Illinois Harvest prior to 11 a.m. will get free entry to the festival.
So many beer festivals are bubbling up throughout the U.S. that domestic fans now have a dizzying year-round array of choices, said Eric Shepard, executive editor of trade publication Beer Marketer’s Insights.
“It’s gotten so popular, I don’t know of any place that doesn’t have one,” he said, citing the success of craft beers as the reason.
Here’s a look at the phenomenon and some of the festivals going on in the U.S. this fall.
FESTIVAL BASICS: Breweries, brewers guilds, and local groups of enthusiasts hold the festivals. Tickets can range from $20 to $100 or more, depending on what is offered. Tickets may cover drinks or they may be good for entry only, and you have to pay separately for your drinks, said Julia Herz, craft beer program director for the Brewers Association, which represents most of the nation’s craft brewers.
Here are a few of the biggest and best-known upcoming beer fests in America.
- Oktoberfest by the Bay, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, San Francisco. The scenic waterfront location is not found at its German ancestor’s fest, but Oktoberfest by the Bay keeps the German tradition alive. The festival – www.oktoberfestbythebay.com – features “sizzling oompah music” (as its web site boasts), native dancing and of course, beer. Entry is split into sessions, either day or night. Tickets are $25 for any session, but that only covers your admission. VIP tickets for $65 include a buffet and a beer. Most beers are $6 and food ranges from $3 to $11. The final day of the event marks the 122nd anniversary of German Day in San Francisco.
- Soulard Oktoberfest, Oct. 7-9, St. Louis. This festival – www.soulardoktoberfest.com – is held in the backyard of one of America’s most successful brewing companies, Anheuser-Busch, which was founded by German immigrants. The city’s strong German heritage is on display at the festival, which promises 2,000 kegs and 14 bands. The event includes contests for brat-eating, stein-holding and strongest barmaid. Entry is $5, although if you’re wearing German attire, you get in for free. (That means lederhosen, not T-shirts by the German brand Adidas.) Food and drinks are separate. For $40 to $75, depending on the day, you get VIP treatment with all-you-can eat bratwurst and other food, beer, special parking and, perhaps most important at a beer festival, special access to bathrooms.
- Great American Brew Festival, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, Denver. This festival, run by the Brewers Association, is “cosmic,” Shepard says. There are 2,400 beers served in the festival hall from 465 brewers. With some 49,000 attendees each year, it’s considered the largest, ticketed beer festival in the U.S. Unless you have your ticket, you won’t be one of them. This year, tickets for the 30th annual festival sold out in a record one week. Tickets should go on sale next year in late July. Bookmark their site, www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com.
Attendees come wanting to taste as much as possible, so the organizers have breweries pour drinks one ounce a time, rather than the typical four-ounce pours found at most other beer festivals, Herz said. “With the multitude of beers, people have to pick a strategy to work the room,” she said.
SOLD OUT? VOLUNTEER! Don’t be dismayed by sold out events. Look into volunteering. Festivals need dozens if not thousands of volunteers, and they’re usually compensated in free tickets and beer. Ryan Katz, a beer enthusiast in Indianapolis, Ind., volunteered with a group in 2009 to work at the Great American Beer Festival. He spent two full days with a group of friends, pouring beer for breweries.
“We could take breaks and try other beers,” he said. “And they had no issues with us drinking the stuff we were pouring either.”
Contact the organizers of the fest where you’d like to volunteer. At the Great American Beer Festival, the need is big: they had nearly 3,300 volunteers last year. There’s already a waiting list for this year, though.
Munich’s traditional beer festival kicked off Saturday under heavy security and with the price of a litre tankard at a record high.
City mayor Christian Ude, a Social Democrat, tapped the first barrel on the stroke of midday and clinked glasses with the conservative governor of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer, to launch the 178th Oktoberfest.
Despite the economic climate, some six million local and foreign visitors are expected to attend the festival billed as the biggest popular celebration in the world, downing some seven million litres of beer over three weeks.
Queues began forming early for the opening day, despite the price of 9.20 euros ($12.70) per litre and complaints that up to a quarter of it is spilled on its way from the barrel to the table.
Smokers were also warned that they risk fines this year as a ban will be strictly enforced in the 14 beer halls on the site.
Tight security measures are in place around the festival, seen as a possible target for attacks, including some 500 police on duty and 200 concrete blocks protecting the beer halls.
The Oktoberfest goes back to the marriage of King Ludwig I of Bavaria on October 12, 1810. In recent times it has been brought forward to September, when the weather is generally better.