Dave Knows Portland

Portland Oktoberfest Trifecta (September 23-25, 2011)

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If you enjoy Oktoberfests (and who doesn’t?!), get ready to don your dirndl or lederhosen this weekend, September 23 through 25, 2011. You have three area Oktoberfests to choose from (not to mention the Portland Polish Fest). The truly dedicated will attend them all!

Friday – Sunday

Zenner's Oktoberfest 2011Oaks Park Oktoberfest 2011

The 2011 Zenner’s Oktoberfest at Oaks Park takes place Friday through Sunday, September 23 through 25.

The authentic German beer and food (e.g. Zenner’s sausages, chicken schnitzel, braised red cabbage, sauerkraut, German Potato Salad, and Tater Tots!) 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. [more]

Friday-Saturday

Der Rheinlander Oktoberfest 2011Der Rheinlander Oktoberfest

The Rheinlander 2011 Oktoberfest takes place Friday and Saturday, September 23 and 24 at the restaurant (5035 NE Sandy).

The outdoor bier tent features beer directly from Munich, German – including Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier and Paulaner Salvator Dopple Bock. Live music in the evenings is provided by Oktoberfest band Paloma from Chicago, and participate in (or observe with a smirk) the sausage and pretzel eating contest and costume competition. [more]

Sunday

McMenamins EdgefieldOktoberfest at Edgefield

When you imagine Oktoberfest, what comes to mind? Oom-pah bands, loads of beer, bratwurst and hamburgers and more! One and all are welcome to participate in the German celebration that is Oktoberfest! Begun as a wedding party for Germany’s Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese in 1810, today Oktoberfest is celebrated all over the world with music, singing, dancing, beer, food and revelry. [more]

Der Rheinlander Oktoberfest (September 23-24, 2011)

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Der Rheinlander Oktoberfest 2011The Rheinlander 2011 Oktoberfest takes place Friday and Saturday, September 23 and 24 at the restaurant (5035 NE Sandy).

The outdoor bier tent features beer directly from Munich, German – including Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier and Paulaner Salvator Dopple Bock. Live music in the evenings is provided by Oktoberfest band Paloma from Chicago, and participate in (or observe with a smirk) the sausage and pretzel eating contest and costume competition.

Saturday, noon to 5pm, is Family Day, and features face painters, balloon artists, and other activities for kids and parents. The Rogue Valley Alphorns and Der Liederkries will be performing.

And of course enjoy fantastic food – options include fondue, Königsberger Klopse, Hungarian goulash, eisbein, sausage, and plum and peach crisp!

Admission each day is $5 (kids 4-12 $2, 0-3 free!). A portion of which benefits the Northwest Down Syndrome Association. Visit the Oktoberfest event page for more details.

Oaks Park Oktoberfest 2011

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Zenner's Oktoberfest 2011The 2011 Zenner’s Oktoberfest at Oaks Park takes place Friday through Sunday, September 23 through 25.

The authentic German beer and food (e.g. Zenner’s sausages, chicken schnitzel, braised red cabbage, sauerkraut, German Potato Salad, and Tater Tots!) 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.

Entertainment is provided by a multitude of polka-y bands, including Greg Meier, the Polkatones, Still Kickin’, the Country Dutchmen, Wisler Accordion, and more.

Compete in (or watch) contests like the pretzel toss, condiment art, chicken dance, and sausage eating contests, 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.

Admission is $5 for adults 16 to 61, $3 for 62 and over, and kids get in for $2. Friday the fest goes from 3pm-midnight (rides 6pm-10pm), Saturday, 11am-midnight (rides noon-10pm), and Sunday 11am-7pm (rides noon-7pm).

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 hit the Polish Festival, which unfortunately is always on the same 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.

August 6, 1911: Cornerstone Laid for Portland’s Altenheim

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In 1911 Mrs. Louise Weinhard, widow of Portland brewer Henry Weinhard, donated land near SE Division and 82nd to the German Aid Society for an Altenheim, a retirement home for German-Americans. On August 6, 1911 the cornerstone was laid.

At the ceremony held on the occasion, John Reisacker, president of the society, explained the purpose of the home (Morning Oregonian, 7-August-1911):

The Altenheim, or Old People’s Home, is one of the necessities, brought about by modern civilization and social conditions more than by the ingratitude of children. Among the inmates of this class of institution where is always more or less dissatisfaction, and probably this is more pronounced among the Germans, who are in American institutions, because they do not all understand English and are not accustomed to American ways of living. Therefore we thought it incumbent upon us to provide a home for the old German people, where they can enjoy the companionship of those who speak their own language.

The Altenheim served those purposes from May 19, 1912 through 2003 when the facility ceased operation.

April 3, 1893: City of Mt. Angel Incorporated

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WurstfestThe city of Mt. Angel, best known for throwing Oregon’s largest Oktoberfest, was incorporated on April 3, 1893.

White settlers began arriving in the area about 40 years earlier. In 1891 a group of Benedictines arrived and started an abbey on the hill, which they christened Mount Angel (the translation of Engelberg, the location of their home-abbey in Switzerland).

In 2009 the Oktoberfest (a tradition in the small town since 1966), was joined by an winter festival: Wurstfest – a celebration of the mighty German (wurst) sausage.