3rd Annual
OktoberFest
October 10-11, 2008
Lancaster's 3rd annual OktoberFest was
bigger
and better than ever! Once again, we started with a Preview
Party on Friday night, October 10th, with live entertainment, a
full German meal, and a selection of German beer, custom-made
wine, and root beer on tap. Then on Saturday, October 11,
we had a full day of activities, including food and
beverages available a la carte, live music, performances by a
Bavarian dance club, and amusement rides for all ages.
Both days, a select group of artists were on-hand to show and
sell their art.
Click here
to see photos from OktoberFest 2008.
Schedule
Friday
October 10, 2008
|
|
|
| 6:30 PM |
|
Gates Open |
| 6:45 PM |
|
Opening Procession & Ceremony -
Featuring Mayor Marcus Knight |
| 7:00 PM |
|
Dinner catered by Kuby's Sausage House
Live Music
Wine & Beer Auction |
| |
|
|
Saturday
October 11, 2008
|
|
|
| 10:00 AM - 4:00
PM |
|
2nd Saturday on The Square -
Featuring arts & crafts vendors plus unique shops
and restaurants on Lancaster's Historic Town
Square. Free shuttle between Town Square and
OktoberFest. |
| 11:30 AM |
|
OktoberFest Gates Open at the
Historic MKT Depot & Rose Garden |
| 11:30 AM - 5:00
PM |
|
Children's Activities,
including:
Bounce House - FREE
Face-Painting - FREE
Traditional German Lebkuchen (Cookie) Decorating |
| 11:30 AM - 5:00
PM |
|
Adults Only - Take a ride in
a World War II
plane.
Sign up at OktoberFest and ride free shuttle to
Lancaster Airport |
| 12:00 - 3:00 PM |
|
Home Depot Children's
Workshop - FREE |
| 3:00 - 4:00 PM |
|
Performance by Alpine
Dancers - Featuring adults and children, as seen
every year at the State Fair of Texas |
| 4:00 PM |
|
Pet Parade - Organized by
Students from Lancaster High School's International
Baccalaureate Diploma Programme |
| 5:00 PM |
|
Beer Stein Contest -
Featuring steins made in pottery classes at Cedar Valley
College, but open to everyone. |
| 7:00 PM - 9:00
PM |
|
Live Music by Jake & the
Bavarian Woodchoppers |
For more information about food, beverages,
and attractions, please scroll down the page to find a complete
list of the German beers and custom-made wines that will be
available, plus much more.
We hope you'll come out, enjoy the great fall
weather, and take lots of your own photos, but till then, please
enjoy looking
at photos from OktoberFest 2007
and OktoberFest 2006.
|
|
News
from the OktoberFest Committee - Click
on the link to see the latest happenings. Once you see how
much fun our committee is having, you may decide it's worth
volunteering!
We will need additional volunteers on
the week-end of the event, so even if you don't have time to
come to committee meetings, please contact us if you're
available to work on Friday or Saturday. Thanks! Vendor
Opportunities - Click on the link for more
information, including a link to the application. |
|
Sponsorship Opportunities - Click on the link
to learn about the great benefits you'll receive as an
OktoberFest sponsor. Thanks to these businesses and
individuals who have already signed up as sponsors:
|
|
Back
to Top of Page |
| |
Preview Party - Friday, October
10th - 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Ticket price of only $40 includes
a full meal plus three coupons for the beverages of your
choice. You'll get to take part in the Opening Ceremonies,
which will include a procession through the Rose Garden,
followed by the tapping of the first keg by Lancaster's new
Mayor, Marcus Knight. The meal will be catered by Kuby's
Sausage House in Dallas and will include smoked
bratwurst, knackwurst, German potato salad, red cabbage,
sauerkraut, and apple strudel.
|
|
| |
|
 |
Pilsner
Warsteiner Premium Verum, a pale golden pilsner
style beer on tap
Click here
to visit the Warsteiner-USA website, where you
can read more about this and other beers from this
centuries-old brewery in north-central Germany. |
| |
|
|
Oktoberfest Beer
The Taste Tests are finished and the
decision has been made - drum roll please. This
year, we will feature Hacker-Pschorr
Oktoberfest beer on tap. Hacker Pschorr has been
brewed in Munich since 1417, and their brewing process
has remained virtually unchanged for over 580 years.
|
| |
|
|
Hefe-Weizen - Split Decision
For the first time ever, we'll be
serving Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse Hell on tap.
Franziskaner's weiss beer products are top-fermentation
beers noted for their agreeable carbonation levels and
zesty wheat flavor.
In addition, we will follow our own tradition
from last year by serving Konig Ludwig Weissbier in bottles. This Royal Bavarian wheat beer is brewed by
the Kaltenberg Castle Brewery in Germany.
Kaltenberg Castle is the residence of Prince Luitpold of
Bavaria, who is of the House of Wittelsbach - a family
that knows something about beer. Countless
generations of this royal family have been brewing beer
since 1260, and it was a member of this family that
instituted Germany's famous Reinheitsgebot (Purity Law)
in 1516. We also have the House of Wittelsbach to
thank for starting the Oktoberfest tradition as they
celebrated the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig to
Princess Therese of Bavaria in 1810.
|
| |
|
|
|
Dunkel
Another new addition this year is
Hacker-Pschorr's Weisse Dark beer - the original
Weisse Dark. Created by Georg Pschorr, the Dunkel
(dark) style of Weisse beer is produced with 60% dark-
and light-colored malted wheat and 40% dark- and
light-colored malted barley. This provides the
beer with a deeper amber color than regular Weisse
beers, and a more robust flavor, yet it is surprisingly
light. |
|
 |
Another ever-popular feature of Lancaster
OktoberFest is our exclusive homebrewed beer-tasting.
Award-winning homebrewer Charlie Walker of the North
Texas Homebrewers Association will be serving an
Oktoberfest-style beer this year, which we're calling
"Steel Dust Special" after the famous foundation
stallion of the Amercian Quarter Horse Registry. Steel
Dust was brought to Lancaster in 1845 by Middleton Perry and
Jones Greene, and lived on the Strain Farm. The Strain
Farm is believed to be the oldest working farm in Dallas
County, and is one of a small number of Texas farms continuously
owned and operated by the same family for more than 100 years. |
|
|
|
Back by popular demand, custom-blended
wines will include:
 | Müller-Thurgau (a crisp white wine
made from Germany's most popular grapes) |
|
Katy Krush - Green Apple Riesling (a cool
Riesling accented with fresh green apples) |
| Katy Kool - Black Raspberry Merlot (a
fruity Merlot accented with luscious black raspberries)
|
|
 |
For those preferring a non-alcoholic
beverage, we will also be serving Thomas
Kemper Root Beer on tap. This tasty treat was
first brewed as an alternative to beer at an Oktoberfest event
on Bainbridge Island, Washington, so it's sure to be the perfect
complement for our food. |
|
|
|
Public Celebration - Saturday, October 11th - 10:00 AM -
9:30
PM
We'll offer brats on a stick, brats
on a bun, hot dogs for the kids, fresh hot pretzels, and apple
strudel à la carte, plus, other vendors will be on-hand
with a variety of tasty food offerings.
During daylight hours, we'll offer a wealth of activities for kids
and families, including:
| FREE Kids Workshop by Home Depot |
| FREE Face-Painting by Jennifer - She's the official
face-painter of Mesquite Championship Rodeo! |
| FREE Bounce House |
| Lebkuchen Decorating - This German tradition gives
children of all ages the opportunity to decorate a
gingerbread cookie. |
| Pet Parade - FREE and open to all pets (well, at least to
those that play nice and don't bite!) |
| Pet Adoptions by Dalmatian Rescue, Italian Greyhound
Rescue, Lancaster Animal Shelter, and possibly others. |
Of special interest for the adults:
| Famed potter and clay sculptor Randy
Brodnax will be on-hand with his pottery wheel and a
glow worm kiln built on-site. |
| We'll have a Beer Stein Contest. Bring your favorite stein and
be prepared to tell us how it came to be in your
possession. Prizes will be awarded in a variety of
categories at the judges' discretion. |
| Live music. |
| Arts & Crafts Vendors will be offering their wares on
the Historic Town Square. Might be time to start your holiday shopping! |
|
|
|
| |
|
Sponsorship opportunities are available at
levels to suit every budget, starting at just $10. A
downloadable document with complete details will be posted soon. As
an OktoberFest sponsor at levels starting at $250, you will
receive local and regional advertising and exposure, plus you
will be helping to preserve an important piece of Lancaster's
history. Thanks to the Visitors Bureau of the City
of Lancaster, we have a budget that will allow us to
advertise in several print, internet, and e-mail media outlets.
Proceeds raised at OktoberFest will be
used for the ongoing maintenance of the historic MKT Depot and
adjacent Rose Garden. We welcome both
corporate and individual sponsors. If you're an individual
with no business to promote, please remember that your
sponsorship may qualify as a tax-deductible donation.
Tickets for Friday night's Preview Party
will be available soon, and will be in limited supply.
For sponsorship information or to purchase
your tickets, contact Peggy Smith at 214-460-5533, or send e-mail to
. |
| |
|
We are accepting applications from artists and food
vendors to join us at
OktoberFest on Saturday, October 11. Spaces are 10' x 10', and you will need to bring your
own pop-up canopy. Limited Electricity will be available
at an additional charge. An application will be available
for download soon, with a list of all rules and restrictions. |
|
|
| Committee
Members - Click here
to open an Excel spreadsheet and share your progress
reports with the committee. |
| |
| The OktoberFest Committee got together in July to
make wine for our event. This is our second
year to blend custom wines at Swirll,
Dallas' Downtown Winery. Afterward, we all
went to Campisi's for pizza. Thanks to Peggy
& Louis Davion, owners of Swirll, for taking
these great photos and allowing us to post them
here! |
|
A little wine and cheese to get us ready
for the hard work ahead ... |
Pat and Andy get ready to make some wine
while Randy finishes off a glass. |
| |
|
Tim enjoys another glass while
Evie does the hard work! |
Former LHS President Patricia makes
wine as current LHS President Susan
"supervises". |
| |
|
Every team needs uniforms. In our case,
Swirll aprons for everyone! |
A final toast to Peggy & Louis Davion,
owners of Swirll,
Dallas' Downtown Winery.
They've taught us a lot about winemaking,
and have made it fun every step of the way. |
|
|
|
|
