The 9th Annual Jacksonville Rotary Oktoberfest will return to the Morgan County Fairgrounds one week from tomorrow on Saturday September 21st.
Co-organizer of the event Allen Stare, explains why the event known as “Oktoberfest” happens on a weekend in September.
“The original Oktoberfest was a celebration of the marriage of the king. The very first was a reception for the wedding and the Munich city fathers went, that went really well, it was like a five day party. So they brought it back the next year, and the next, and the next. And as they got into it, they realized the actual weekend of the wedding reception is a bad weekend, so they moved it earlier. The official Oktoberfest in Germany starts on September 21st. Oktoberfest happens in September, only about three or four days of Oktoberfest actually happen, in October, the bulk of it happens in September. So we are right there, when we are tapping our keg at 12:30, over in Munich they will be tapping the official keg and starting the 15 day celebration that is Oktoberfest.”
Tickets for the event are $4.00 in advance and $5.00 at the gate the day of the event.
“tickets are $4.00 iun advance, you can pick them up at County Market or from any Rotarian, or you can also go to our website jacksonvillerotary.org, and we have a ton of stuff on there, pictures of past Oktoberfest, the official full schedule of the day is on there, so log on and check everything out. Gates open at noon, our tapping of the keg and the “Wilkommen” ceremony is at 12:30 pm, and that is when the Heidelberg Band kicks off. We have ommpah all day long, the Heidelberg Band out of Quincy is back and we are not messing around with any rock and roll this year, it is going to be all ommpah.”
Food sales and the beer wagon will commence as soon as the gates open. This years menu will feature traditional German fare as well as the return of the popular “German Meal” menu option.
Stare is especially excited about the lineup of beer varieties at this years event.
“I’m
very excited about the beers, we are working with our beer vendors to
get more and more original and authentic, and this year on out beer
wagon, you will find Paulaner
Oktoberfest Marzen, Paulaner Hefe-Weizen Natural Wheat, Paulaner
salvator Double Back, Hofbrau Munchen, Hofbrau Oktoberfest, and
Warsteiner. Now the thing that is cool about the Paulaner Brewery
and the Hofbrau Brewery is they are both based in Munich and they are
both official Oktoberfest beers. And if those names are making your
head spin, you’ll be able to find in our can beers the usual domestic
flavors, Coors Light, Miller Light, White Claw Black Cherry, White
Claw Mango, Strongbow Cider, and Corona Premier.”
Attendees with commemorative beer steins from past years events are invited to bring their steins with them for a special price on refills throughout the day. If you don’t have a stein, you can get one at the event while supplies last.
Other events scheduled for the day include the the Keg Toss and Stein Endurance competitions, the Dachshund Dash weenie dog races, and the bag toss.
A new addition to this years event is the Homebrew competition where local brewers will be bringing out their best offerings.
Attendees
to the event will be able to learn info on the brewing process and
vote for their favorite selection in the competition.
Advance tickets are available at County Market, or from any Rotary member. Gates open a noon and the event runs until 8pm.