Oktoberfest in Northern Colorado

September and Oktoberfest go together like pretzels and beer. Oh wait! That is part of Oktoberfest and one of my favorite times of year! It’s a super fun way to say goodbye to summer and hello to autumn.  But what is Oktoberfest, why do we enjoy it, and how do we celebrate Oktoberfest in Northern Colorado?

First, some basics. Oktoberfest began as a celebration in 1810 in honor of a royal wedding that included all the villagers in the surrounding area. The celebration became an annual event expanding to include not only the annual horserace but also an agricultural fair similar to our county fairs, more food, more games, and entertainment. The event now runs September 19^th through October 4^th.

One may ask, why does Oktoberfest start in September? The event originally took place in October but as the Munich event grew in numbers and the weeks were prolonged, it was moved to earlier in the fall season to accommodate for weather. In Colorado, this is helpful as we have been known to get a snow the first week of October.

If you are ready to party hardy in Colorado for the Oktoberfest season, shout for joy. America’s largest Oktoberfest event is in Denver. This is the 50^th year for the celebration and it will not disappoint. The event will include the traditional beer tapping, food, beer, brat eating contest, costume contests, and of course, my favorite, polka music from a variety of local groups including Polka Folka.

There are Oktoberfest celebrations of all shapes and forms up and down the Front Range from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins. Many are city sponsored or service club sponsored events. Others are single day events at many of our breweries that celebrate the tapping of a craft brew that is akin to one of the original beers from Bavaria. We are fortunate in Northern Colorado to have several breweries, such as Grimm Brothers, Zwei, and Prost, that offer amazing traditional German beers including a Marzen. Given some breweries do go off the rails a bit for Oktoberfest with some nontraditional brews, they make up for it in inspiration and creativity.

Things to Do for Oktoberfest in Northern Colorado

For Northern Colorado, the following cities offer an Oktoberfest sometime between September 15^th and October 4th:

Greeley – Octobrewfest. Greeley has a special relationship to the German culture as it was and is home  to many German from Russians. Thanks to these industrious and hardworking immigrants, we had the sugar beet industry and have a wonderful culinary treat called a krautburger which is unique to the Germans from Russia and the Dutch Hop polka

Berthoud – The city sponsors their traditional Oktoberfest in October offering music, beer, krautburgers, and more.

Loveland – The Kiwanis Club of Loveland sponsors their event and has expanded every year. Keeping things traditional with a collaborative effort with their 11 breweries, German food, pretzels, and polka bands.

Fort Collins – Fort Collins’ event is a Fortoberfest, a goodbye to the last outdoor music festival in downtown with local beers, German inspired cuisine and a full line up non-traditional music in the vein of jazz, funk, soul, rockabilly and R & B.

Want to go more local? Have your own party! My husband brews beer and we have had our own version of Oktoberfest that ranged from Beer, Brats and ‘Shoes to Czechtoberfest – a nod to by German and Czech heritage. thought I would share our party tips for your own event! Below are some easy Oktoberfest party instructions!

Oktoberfest Party Food

1. Beer brats are the traditional source of protein but we include a variety of other sausages including chicken and beef for our non-pork eating friends. It’s always helpful to have food labels as some of your guests may not eat pork. If you really want to be authentic, add some roast duck and chicken.
2. Mustard – Bratwurst and mustard is heaven on a stick. I usually try to have Alstertor Dusseldorf Style Mustard, hot and medium Lowensenf mustard, and Inglehoffer varieties.
3. Pretzels – Hard, soft, small, large, and flat. In the past I have made my own pretzel buns or laugenbrot, but honestly, Whole Foods usually has the most amazing buns that match what I have eaten in Europe.
4. Popcorn – do not serve beer without munchies.
5. Beer – obviously lots of that! We brew our own but again, let your friends bring their favorite. Traditional commercial Oktoberfest beers are Augustiner-Bräu, Hacker-Pschorr-Bräu, Löwenbräu,Paulaner, Spatenbräu, and Staatliches Hofbräu-München.
6. Other beverages – Riesling, a nice Gewürztraminer,water with lemon, iced tea, soft drinks
7. Pickles, pickles, pickles. German barrel pickles if you can find them but any good kosher, baby dills, garlic, sweet and spicy will do.
8. If you are really feeling crafty, try making German bierocks, krautburgers or sausage kolaches! These make super fun finger foods too with minimal clean up afterward!
9. Be kind to yourself and help your friends be even better friends by allowing them to bring appetizers, a German style potato salad, red cabbage or sauerkraut or a dessert. Most friends love to contribute to an event so don’t think you have to do it all yourself. This was one of my “lessons learned” from many parties we have given.

Oktoberfest Party Decorating

Color – I try to avoid the store-bought Oktoberfest themed paper goods for decorating. They are good in a pinch but I think you can do just as good. The Bavarian flag is light aqua blue and white, but some years we introduce touches of German black, red and yellow in the paper goods, table and garden decorating.

Decorations – I tried to use what we had already like German beer steins we pick up at garage sales and thrift shops, German beer coasters, ribbon, blue, white and yellow tablecloths, floral pics and mini flags from past years.

Flowers – I usually by some flowers because, well, you know, any party is not a party without some floral in it. It’s not exactly an Oktoberfest thing but I pretty much put ribbons and bows on everything, including the harvest door hanger. I love blue hydrangeas in a Bavarian blue and white mug but a white flower will do in a pinch.

Lighting – We keep several strings of C9 size lights hanging from tree to tree across our patio. Most of the year we leave white and clear bulbs in place. When it’s party time, we change a few clear and white bulbs to color ones for some celebration appropriate bulbs. For Oktoberfest, blue ones are added. In this day and age of fairy lights, blue LED twinkles might be fun!

Nametags – Encourage guest mingling by having name tags and including some tidbit of information that will initiate conversation throughout the event. Perhaps have some sticky stars for those who are of German descent. One year we asked guests to name one cool find they have discovered for the year. We discovered everything from restaurants to chalk paint. One of our clever guests wrote on his nametag “this party!” as his cool find for the year!

Music – Don’t forget about the polka music. Don’t have polka tunes?  click here for some 24/7 polkas!

Prosit!

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.