The 2012 Paulaner Oktoberfest at Oaks Park takes place Friday through Sunday, September 21 through 23.
Entertainment (PDF) is provided by the usual suspects, including Greg Meier, the Polkatones, Still Kickin’, the Country Dutchmen, Wisler Accordion, and more.
Compete in (or watch) contests (PDF) like the pretzel toss, condiment art, chicken dance, the sausage eating contests, and the Oktoberfest Bear Hug Race throughout the weekend.
In addition there’s a vendor village where you can buy lederhosen and dirndls, and plenty of stuff for the kids.
This year the food menu gets interesting, with multiple food vendors offering their own take on Oktoberfest food, including (click links for PDF menus) EastBurn, Edelweiss Deli, Eis Hutte and Schnitzel Haus, the Scandinavian Cafe, Urban German, and more – everything is reasonably priced, and two festhallen and a multitude of outdoor picnic tables means there are plenty of places to sit down with your beers and friends.
Admission is $5 for adults 16 to 61, $3 for 62 and over, and kids get in for $2. Friday the fest goes from 3 p.m. to midnight (rides 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.), Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight (rides noon to 10 p.m.), and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (rides noon to 7 p.m.).
This is one of Heather‘s favorite Portland festivals, because of the weiner dog races of course. I’m especially fond of the beer and accordion music!
We usually attend on Friday night, which is usually rather laid back (it is Senior Excitement night at the fest after all). But it serves as a nice way to ease into a full weekend of festing (Saturday night we usually hit the Polish Festival, which unfortunately is always on the same weekend). This year the weekend is also shared by Feast Portland – whew, what a busy weekend! To give you an idea of what to expect, check out our reviews from past years:
Heather’s:
Mine:
And here’s a weiner dog race video!
Weiner Dog Race! from Mile73 on Vimeo.
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