Upcoming Oktoberfest Celebrations in the Northwest

Get your Oom-pah on!

Northwest Oktoberfests are upon us. Tap the kegs and hoist your stein—it’s Oktoberfest and beer drinkin’ time!
By Kendall Jones

Photo at right: Bier frau in Bend, Ore. Photo by Joseph Eastburn

Mount Angel Oktoberfest

This is Oregon’s longest-running festival. It has been known as Oktoberfest since 1966, but some kind of harvest festival has been happening in Mount Angel since the late 1800s, which is about the same time they started celebrating Oktoberfest in Munich.

As many as 300,000 people will attend the four-day event, which is much more than a beer festival and includes wiener dog races, an arts and crafts fair, a car show and more. Children are welcome at this community event, and they can even hang out with their parents in the beer and wine gardens until 9 p.m.

Mount Angel, Ore. — Sept. 12–15;
Thursday, Friday and Saturday: 
11 a.m. – midnight
Sunday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.

www.oktoberfest.org

Biketobeerfest

Dubbed the world’s only bike-in Oktoberfest, this “bike-to-beer” festival is a Portland original.

Entertainment includes music from local bands, break dancers, BMX stunt riders and the infamous Huffy Huck, which sees contestants tossing cheap bikes for distance.

Enjoy more than a dozen different organic beers from Hopworks Urban Brewery, which hosts this event. For the kiddos, there will be a bouncy house, a climbing wall and face painting.

Hopworks Urban Brewery
2944 SE Powell Blvd.
 Portland, Ore. 
(503) 232-4677
Sept. 21: Noon – 10 p.m.

www.hopworksbeer.com/biketobeerfest

Inland NW Craft Beer Festival

This event provides an opportunity to sample a huge assortment of Washington-brewed fall seasonal and other beers served up in a festive, riverside atmosphere along with Bavarian-themed music and food.

This is an excellent opportunity to sample beers from the breweries of eastern Washington, many of which don’t distribute beer west of the Cascades. The Washington Beer Commission, the only state-appointed commodities commission of its kind in the country, hosts Inland NW Craft Beer Festival and all proceeds benefit its efforts to promote Washington beer locally, nationally and globally.

Riverfront Park
Spokane, Wash.

Sept. 27: 4 – 8 p.m.
Sept. 28: Noon – 8 p.m.

www.washingtonbeer.com/oktoberfest

Onlookers shield themselves from pumpkin spray in Fremont carving contest. Photo by Patrick Lennox Wright

Fremont Oktoberfest

This is one of the Seattle’s biggest parties of the year.

Once-freaky Fremont has become much more civilized in recent years, but for three days each autumn the neighborhood cuts loose for Fremont Oktoberfest, which attracts huge crowds to drink beer and enjoy Bavarian-themed revelry.

Along with a raucous beer garden (21+) packed with thirsty hipsters drinking beer from dozens of local and not-so-local breweries, Fremont Oktoberfest offers a 5k run, zucchini decorating and racing, a kid’s play area, and even a Texas Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving contest—a spectacle unto itself (2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday).

Get there early or pack your patience: this event gets busy and crowded.

Fremont Oktoberfest
North 35th Street and 
Phinney Ave. N.
Seattle, Wash.
Sept. 20: 5 – 11:30 p.m.
Sept. 21: 11 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.
Sept. 22: 11 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

www.fremontoktoberfest.com

Bend Oktoberfest

Bend, Ore.’s reputation as one of the greatest beer towns in the Pacific Northwest continues to grow. Once known by beer lovers as merely the home of Deschutes Brewing, it is now home to a dozen breweries.

For this event, they shut down one of downtown’s main streets for two days of beer-fueled, German-inspired fun, food and music. Earplugs will help you tolerate the Yodeling competition. Make a side bet with your buddies on the Wiener Dog Races, Saturday at 3 p.m., where dachshunds dash for glory.

Friday night is a 21+ affair.

The event includes an official beer garden, but use this as an opportunity to visit one, or all, of the city’s many breweries.

Downtown Bend on Oregon Avenue
Sept. 20: 5 – 10 p.m.
Sept. 21: Noon – 10 p.m.

www.bendoktoberfest.com

Lively pirates enjoy festivities in Anacortes, Wash. Photo by Chris Terrell

Anacortes Oktoberfest Bier on the Pier

Instead of continuing on to the San Juan Islands, as so many people do, force yourself to stop short of the ferry dock in Anacortes to enjoy an Oktoberfest celebration on the waterfront.

At least 30 breweries will pour beer at this year’s festival, making the Bier on the Pier one of the largest Oktoberfest celebrations in the region.

Along with musical entertainment, Friday and Saturday, there will be a “German Costume” contest with prizes awarded for the most authentic or creative costumes. 
Spend the night in Anacortes and enjoy live music at a number of downtown venues after the festival concludes. Since you’re so close to the islands, drop the kayak in the pond on Sunday morning and spend the day paddling through the San Juans.

Commercial Ave. & 1st Street
Anacortes, Wash.

Oct. 4: 5 – 9 p.m.
Oct. 5: Noon – 6 p.m.
www.anacortes.org/oktoberfest

Leavenworth Oktoberfest

In Leavenworth, Wash., it is not so much a beer festival as it is a way of life. It takes three weekends for this Bavarian-style village to get the Oktoberfest bug out of its system. The crowds are enormous and hotel rooms hard to secure, but if you are looking for an authentic Oktoberfest experience, this is it.

Men in lederhosen and women in dirndls hoist liter steins of German beer, rock back and forth to oom-pah music, and do the chicken dance. The party takes over the entire town, but tickets are required to get into the official festival and can be purchased in advance on the website or in person at the event. Kids are welcome until 9 p.m. each night.

Downtown Leavenworth

Oct. 4–5, 11–12, 18–19:

www.leavenworthoktoberfest.com

Great Pumpkin Beer Festival

It might not be an Oktoberfest celebration, but it is a harvest season festival that is all about beer. While German beer purity laws forbid the use of pumpkin in the brewing process, that doesn’t stop Elysian Brewing from hosting the annual Great Pumpkin Beer Festival, which sees breweries from across the nation submit their best gourd-inspired creations.

In all, more than 60 different pumpkin beers will be served at this three-day event. The beers range from delicious to bizarre. Attendees are encouraged to dress up in pumpkin-inspired outfits of any type. Elysian actually serves beer from a giant pumpkin: instead of being a cask-conditioned beer, it is a pumpkin-conditioned beer.

5510 Airport Way S. Seattle, Wash.
Oct. 4: 4 – 10 p.m.
Oct. 5: noon – 6 p.m.
Oct. 6: noon – 6 p.m.

www.elysianbrewing.com

Bellingham Beer Week

Celebrate craft beers in Bellingham, Wash., with 10 glorious days of festivities, including brewers nights, tap takeovers, competitions and more.

Bellingham, Wash.
Sept. 20–29:
bellinghambeerweek.com

Kendall Jones is a proud native and lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest. After spending too many years writing about computer software, he decided to pursue his true passion: writing about beer. Kendall produces beer-tasting events in the Seattle area and is recognized in the craft beer community for his work as curator of the Washington Beer Blog, a popular online source for beer news and information.

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