Edmonton Oktoberfest Serves Up More Than Beer!

Hold onto your lederhosen, Edmonton — the city’s first large-scale Oktoberfest is coming October 3 and 4! Hosted by Alberta Beer Festivals, Edmonton Oktoberfest will celebrate the local community and — of course — beer! An authentic Oompah band will play live music while attendees sample Bavarian-style brews from Germany and local microbreweries. You can also enjoy a vast array of international and local foods that restaurants, such as MKT and Sloppy Hogs Roed Hus, will help you pair with the beers!

Before we go too deep into all of the wonderful things to check out during Edmonton Oktoberfest, here’s a brief history of the hubbub behind the original event. Back in October of 1810, Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (a state in Germany) invited the citizens of Munich to celebrate his marriage to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The citizens partook in festivities on the fields in front of Munich’s city gates, consuming a large amount of beer and food during a parade and horse races. The celebration was such a hit among the citizens that it continued, evolving over the years to include more ways to promote Bavarian culture, such as an agricultural show. Today, Oktoberfest has morphed into a massive celebration of German food and beer celebrated around the world, with over 6.7 million litres of beer being served to the 6.4 million visitors to Munich’s event in 2013!

Here are some more exciting reasons to join the beer and food fest in Edmonton:

•  The first 100 people through the gates each day receive free tickets to Edmonton’s Craft Beer Festival next June!
• Bring a donation for the Edmonton Food Bank, and you’ll be entered to win a trip for two to Germany!
• A Beer Cask Stage will feature six different casks that are locally brewed just for the event — you won’t be able to taste them anywhere else on Earth!
• Wear your best lederhosen or dirndl and you could win some fabulous prizes from Alberta Beer Festivals and participating breweries and restaurants!

And over the next few weeks, WHERE Edmonton will be giving away FREE tickets to the festivities on Friday, October 3! To enter to win a pair of tickets, comment below on what your favourite local brewery is and why! And follow us on Twitter (@whereedmonton) for even more opportunities to win tickets! Tickets will be drawn September 11, 18, and 24, so keep those comments coming!

We hope you’ll be saying, “Noche ein Bier, bitte!” (‘Nother beer, please!)

Fri, Oct 3: 4 pm – 10 pm | Sat, Oct 4: 2 pm – 10 pm
Edmonton Expo Centre | 7517-118 Ave. | 780-471-7210

Visit the website for more info!