Dave Knows Portland

September 25-27: Oktoberfest at Oaks Park

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2012 Oaks Park Oktoberfest info here!

Oktoberfest!Three words: Wiener dog races. That’s really all you need to know, but in addition you will also enjoy imported German beer, sausages, all the oompah music you can stomach, and chicken dancing until the wee hours! Yup, the Zenner’s Oktoberfest at Oaks Park takes place this weekend, from Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27th.

A glimpse inside one of the festhallen at the 2008 Oaks Park Oktoberfest
A glimpse inside one of the festhallen at the 2008 Oaks Park Oktoberfest

A variety of Paulaner beers will be on tap to accompany the schnitzel and locally produced Zenner’s sausages. Check out the Oaks Park site for the schedule of activities, including pretzel tosses, condiment art contests, and sausage eating contests, each day. And the Polkatones are back! (Download the live music and stage schedule here – pdf.).

This Oktoberfest is one of my favorite fall festivals. The setting at the river front Oaks Park is fantastic – while you’re at the festival you can go on the rides, enjoy the midway, or go roller skating. With two giant festhallen, you can stay dry if it’s raining, shaded if it’s sunny. And of course nothing beats wiener dog races for sheer squeaky toy excitement!

Wiener Dog Race (2008 Oaks Park Oktoberfest)! from Mile73 on Vimeo.

Thanks to Heather at Mile73.com for the video! She also blogged last years festival here:

Oktoberfest: Beer, Wiener Dogs and Schnitzel

Admission is only $5 ($3 for seniors, $2 for kids under 15), and the beers and food are reasonably priced.

September 26-27: Polish Festival 2009

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2012 details here!

Polish FestivalThe Polish Festival is one of Portland’s best annual cultural events (and one of my favorites), and it takes place this weekend: Saturday and Sunday, September 26 and 27th.

Below the masthead on the festival website are the words: the best kept secret of Portland, Oregon. Well, the secret is out. According to the press release, last year over 12,000 people attended, making it the largest Polish festival in the Western United States. To meet demand this year, for the 15th annual event, organizers have ordered over 25,000 pierogies and 6000 bottles of Polish beer. And of course there will be plenty of kielbasa, gołąbki (cabbage rolls), placki ziemniaczane (potato pancakes), and other delectable options available to festival goers.

Scene from last year's festival

The Polish Festival also features non-stop music and dance performances, a street dance, and polka contests too.

Krakow Cafe & Pub (3990 N. Interstate ), one block north, is joining the fun this year, with live music on the sidewalks between noon and 9pm, featuring Russian folk singer Natalie Hougin, jazz duo Barry Glick and Jim Putnam, folk singer Carley Baer and Dale Miller.

Heather and I both attended last year and wrote up reviews:

The festival is not a secret anymore – it’s one of the premier fall festivals in the Portland area.

Entrance to the Polish Festival is free. It takes place Saturday, September 26th, from 11am to 10pm and Sunday the 27th, noon to 6pm, and is held on North Failing street, east side of Interstate, between the St. Stanislaus Church and the Polish Library (3900 N. Interstate). To get there take the 4 to Mississippi and Failing and then take the Failing Street Pedestrian Bridge across the freeway and you are there. Or take the Yellow Line MAX to the Overlook Stop – Failing street is two blocks north up Interstate. Check out the festival website for more information.

Festa Italiana 2009 turns Pioneer Courthouse Square into Piazza Italia this weekend

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ItaliaFesta Italiana takes place Thursday through Saturday, August 27-29th at Pioneer Courthouse Square.

This is one of my favorite Portland festivals, and not just because of the strolling accordionists. I recommend arriving early to secure a table in the beer and wine garden at the top of the bowl on the SE side of the square. You’ll have an excellent view of the stage in the middle of the square. Wine is available by the bottle or the glass; and you’ll find the Festa Italiana drink prices to be more reasonable than at most festivals. Beer is available too. Italian and Italian-ish restaurants from all over set up shop in the square for the festival, offering gelato, pizza, etc.

The entertainment line up is impressive. Musicians from all over regale the crowds with everything from opera to Sinatra, and plenty of accordion. In addition to the music enjoy the grape stomp competition, cooking and pizza tossing demonstrations, marionette shows, and folk dancers. Check out the whole event calendar here.

Review of the Mount Angel Wurstfest: Just rename it Bestfest!

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UPDATE: 2011 Wurstfest is February 12-13!

Wurstfest is the Best fest!Giant Spaten banners fluttered in the breeze outside the Oktoberfest Community Building (500 S Wilco Hwy) in Mount Angel Saturday afternoon. The melodic aspirations of an amplified accordion greeted us as we stepped from the car. The scent of sausage and sauerkraut beckoned.

In the past if you found yourself craving Bavarian-style revelry in the dead of winter, you were out of luck. But those Oktoberfest-minded geniuses in Mount Angel came up with a remedy this year: Wurstfest, a celebration of the mighty German (wurst) sausage.

In the few hours we were there the requisitely lederhosen-clad Greg Meier Alpine Quartet provided the requisite polka music.

Greg Meier Alpine Quartet

At 3pm, after eine, zwei, drei biere, we joined everyone in the beer hall to sing happy birthday to Oregon, in English and then in German.

table2

We tried the fittingly famous frickadelwurst, with sauerkraut and onions!

What the heck is frickadelwurst?

Besides fun to say, Mount Angel Sausage Company‘s fricadelwurst is a spicy chicken sausage with many different spices that create a medley of different delicious flavors that will explode in your mouth.

Indeed.

The beer was fantastic; Spaten’s Premium Helles, Optimator, Helles Bock, Pilsner, and Franziskaner Hefeweizen were available. The glühwein was good; almost as good as mine.

This was the inaugural Mount Angel Wurstfest. From what I saw, it was clearly a success.

beerhall

Let’s hope it becomes an annual tradition.

Photos courtesy of Mile73.com‘s Heather. Read her blog entry, I Went To A Sausage Fest, to learn about the profane wood carver, and to see video footage of the singing of Zum Geburtstag liebes Oregon.

February 21-22: Bratwurst, Bockwurst, and Frickadelwurst at the Mount Angel Wurstfest

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wurstfestMount Angel, famous for its annual Oktoberfest, is branching out this winter with a pre-Lent carnival of sausage: Wurstfest, a celebration of the mighty German (wurst) sausage.

Wurstfest takes place at the Oktoberfest Community Building (500 S Wilco Hwy) both Saturday (noon-11) and Sunday (noon-6). Details from the press release:

Area sausage makers present for sale the best of their wurst – bratwurst, bockwurst, frickadelwurst, famous Oktoberfest sausage and many more garnished with sauerkraut, grilled onions and the Benedictine Sisters award winning Monastery Mustards. On tap are world famous Spaten Biers from Munich – Premium Helles, Optimator, Helles Bock, Pilsner, Franziskaner Hefeweizen, along with the ever popular Bud Light. There will be a wide array of East Valley Wines, non-alcoholic drinks and potions. For a cold winter day, try a steaming cup of Bavarian Glühwein. Select cheeses, sausage pizza, baked goods, Extreme Chocolates, roasted nuts and elephant ears for the kids round out the food offerings.

mine . . .

And there’s music too; accordions!:

Non-stop music at Wurstfest features Oktoberfest favorites – Mount Angel’s own Z Musikmakers Family Band, the Greg Meier Bavarian Quartet, the Happy Swiss Yodeling Band, a father-son accordion duo and others.

$10.00 gets you in, and also a Spaten souvenir Bavarian glass beer mug. More festival details here (pdf).