It is the 50th anniversary of the Denver Oktoberfest and we decided to go to the opening weekend of this popular event. The Oktoberfest festival takes place over two weekends and draws very large crowds enjoying German beer, food, and folk music. Many of the people who attend Oktoberfest dress in traditional German clothing making it even more festive. In addition to the beer and food, there are also a variety of games available to play, such as keg bowling.

There are several types of tickets that you can purchase at the event or in advance, but we’d definitely recommend purchasing tickets in advance as the lines can be quite long. Other than for crafts and merchandise, you must have tickets to get beer, food, and play certain games as cash is not accepted. We chose a ticket option that included a 34 oz souvenir mug with a couple of refills. We had both a hefeweisen and darker Oktoberfest from Spaten. It is definitely important to pace yourself in order not to overdrink and turn a good time into a bad time.

Obviously there is plenty of German food available including different types of bratwurst, currywurst, schnitzle, pretzels, latkes, and apple strudel. We had bratwurst with sauerkraut accompanied with potato pancakes, called latkes, one with sour cream and the other with apple sauce. Later we got a chicken, paprika schnitzel with spätzle as well as apple strudel. With drinking 68 ounces of beer, eating food was an absolute must. The food was really good and definitely reminded us of our time living in Germany.

One of the most popular games was the stein hoisting contest, where people attempt to hold two steins straight out for as long as possible. It was certainly popular for people to watch as well as to participate and having done it in the past, we know that it is extremely difficult. Keg bowling was another popular game with lots of people cheering on those who attempted to knock over kegs with another keg on wheels.

Different musicians play throughout the day, all of them playing festive German folk music. People dance and sing along with the various bands that play, obviously participating more and more as the beer continued to flow. In addition to the people dressing up in traditional clothing, there were also plenty of dogs dressed up as well. Going to the Denver Oktoberfest is certainly a fun experience that we would highly recommend. We had a wonderful time enjoying everything that the festival had to offer.