Oktoberfest, next to the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company on 1075 E. 20th St., has officially ended as of Sunday The event lasted two weekends: Sept. 27 to 29 and Oct. 4 to 6.
The venue had a large tent which held both the stage for bands to perform on as well as plenty of picnic tables for attendees to eat their meals or sip their beers at. It was very hot and there were no sort of misters or fans to cool anyone down.
There was an outside portion of the venue that had the glassblowing booths, various games such as Jenga and tents to trade in a drink ticket for a beer.
The main stage for the band and people gathering at the picnic tables to eat food and drink. There were lots of people looking for an open table. The outdoor portion of the venue was to the right. Photo taken by Sophia MacKinnon on Oct. 5 .
The decorations were pretty minimal including string lights and beer barrels. Nearly everyone was dressed up in lederhosen and dirndl dresses. Very few people were on the dance floor until the chicken dance competition where attendees gathered to compete for a free ticket to next year’s Oktoberfest.
“All I did was make as much eye contact with the judges as possible and dance as dramatically as I could,” Sara Heck, chicken dance competition winner, said.
The food offered at buffet-style tables in a tent next to the beer stands included red potato salad, traditional sauerbraten – a braised beef dish – bratwurst and sauerkraut, brussel sprouts and a green salad with balsamic dressing.
The Sierra Nevada Pale Ale honey mustard and Hazy Little Thing’s German-style whole seed mustard were offered on the side. There were snacks offered as well which were soft pretzel sticks and frosted sugar cookies.
The beer options were all served in a complimentary Oktoberfest 2024 beer mug. These options included:
- Oktoberfest
- Sunny Little Thing
- Pale Ale
- Hazy Little Thing
- Hopy Little Thing
- Mimosa
- Torpedo
They also offered two non-alcoholic options:
- Trail Pass Golden
- Hop Splash Citrus.
The musicians were all performing traditional German music along with a few covers of American classics such as ‘‘Sweet Caroline’’ by Neil Diamond. There were three bands in total: MarchFourth, AlpenBand California and Die Sauerkrauts.
Along with music, there was a large tent for 25 glassblowing artists to show off their work. The Chico State Glass Blowing Club and The Museum of Northern California Art, MONCA, also got the chance to partake in displaying their glassblowing skills.
Sophia Mackinnon can be reached at [email protected].
