I love a good beer. So the Yuengling presented Oktoberfest at SteelStacks in Bethlehem was a must attend! I know . . . Yuengling is an American beer, but gosh-darn-it they make a tasty Oktoberfest! Plus I was pretty sure I was in for some delicious strudel and other tasty food ending in “wurst” and containing “kraut.” So on October 6th the family & I braved the cloudy cool weather to check out this new local festival held at the ArtsQuest Steel Stacks campus.
This is the second annual Oktoberfest – I sadly missed last year. One day admission at the gate was $10 for adults and $5 for kids 6-12 (kids under 6 were free). If you bought tickets online or got weekend passes you could save some cash. The crowd was light, due mostly to the threat of rain, but we got started right way with Bratwurst and Kockwurst from the Karl Ehmer food tent (and of course, some beer!) and headed into the Yuengling Festhalle to eat and listen to Joe Lastovica and the Polka Punch (I’m not making that band name up – how could you NOT have fun?!).
Rick Sr. (Dad) and me at Oktoberfest!
Other than seeing the free comedy show Garfunkel and Oates at 7pm – we didn’t have an agenda, so we got pretzels (and more beer) and wandered the grounds. We watched the Truck Pull and saw the crowning of Miss Oktoberfest and the winner of the Bars Skills Challenge. Then more of our party arrived, the sun came out, and the kids rode the Ferris Wheel and Merry-Go-Round. There were games and kids’ activities too. Then a snack break for some apple and cherry strudel from Heidi’s Strudel, which was fabulous! (It went surprisingly well with beer!) There were some vendors to browse, selling anything from customized white oak barrels to jewelry. We enjoyed the Official Oktoberfest Song (as sung by Kastner’s Oktoberfest Players) a few times – they sang it at the top of every hour. The first line was Ich! Ich Liebe! Ich Liebe Dich, Yuengling! There was live music in front of the ArtsQuest Center as well – we caught some of Little Buddy’s set before going in to see Garfunkel and Oats at the Musikfest Cafe’. The picture above is of my Dad and me with the old Yuengling delivery truck right there in the Picknick Gebiet. The comedy show was definitely the highlight of the day, but to read about that you’ll have to go to my other blog (pennwindows.com/blog).
So I’d say Oktoberfest was a good time! My kids liked all the interesting things going on, my husband & I liked the beer & food, my parents liked the music and food, and my nieces and sister-in-law liked the kid-friendly activities . . . and food. I’m looking forward to next year – there’s still a lot I haven’t done! Hope to see you there!
