In a perfect world, every day in Fayetteville would involve beer tasting, home brew competitions, bratwurst eating contests, pony rides, and petting zoos.
Unless you’re a billionaire, or have chosen some kind of bizarro career that involves all of these things (are you guys hiring?), sadly, most days are not that awesome.
But thanks to Julie Sill of Hog Haus Brewing Company and Brandon Karn of Jammin’ Java, Fayetteville will have it’s very own day filled with all of these things this fall.
The second annual Dickson St. Oktoberfest is set for Oct. 16 in the Walton Arts Center parking lot. The Bavarian tradition of Oktoberfest is typically a 16-day festival beginning in September, but a conflict with the parking lot scheduling has moved the one-day Fayetteville version of Oktoberfest into the month of October this year.
The event will feature home brewers from around the region showcasing all types of beer, as well as craft-brew varieties from Hog Haus Brewing Company in Fayetteville. Admission is free, but $25 will get you an armband to taste as many of the beers as you’d like.
In additional to the home brew and craft beer focus, Sill said that there will be tons of activities for families at the festival.
“We’ll do keg-barrel races like last year, lots of live music, brat eating contests for adults and kids, pumpkin carving contests, and a pumpkin seed spitting contest. We’re also working on a kids zone with pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, magicians, and jugglers,” she said. “We want people to feel like they can bring their kids down here and have a great time.”
Sill said that she is looking for sponsors, vendors and volunteers for the festival that she hopes will grow into a Fayetteville tradition.
“One of the reasons I wanted to do this is because we don’t have Autumnfest anymore,” she said. “I’m passionate about craft beer. I’m passionate this community, and I hope this event can come a mainstay for for Dickson Street and for Fayetteville for years to come.”
The home brew competition will be held in advance of the event, and the winner will be announced at the festival. Sill said this change is so that the home brewers in attendance will be able to spend more time talking to attendees about their creations.
“We want the home brewers to be able to set up and talk with the people about their beer instead of being stuck in the competition during the actual festival,” Sill said.
Interested home brewers who’d like to showcase their beer in the competition, or during the festival, will be able to enter online starting Monday, Aug. 2 on the Oktoberfest website. Anyone interested in getting involved in the festival is also encouraged to email Julie as soon as possible.
Sill and Karn are also planning a similar festival for Spring, tentatively called “Fayetteville Foam Fest” that would feature home brewers as well as larger craft breweries from around the country.
Personally, I’m pumped. I think the potential for something like this in town is enormous, and with just a little bit of community buy-in and a few years of growth, we could have ourselves our very own weekend-long, super awesome beer tasting party.
Who’s in?
Dickson St. Oktoberfest
Date: Saturday, Oct. 16
Time 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Location: Walton Arts Center parking lot
Admission Free to attend, beer-tasting armbands are $25
More Info: Dickson St. Oktoberfest website
I’m in! We need to encourage events like this!
I CANT FREAKIN WAIT!!! This gonna be awesome!! Does the $25 for the arm band get you into the brat contest?? If not how much?
BEER BEER BEER BEER!!!!
This is marvelous! I’m entering the contest for sure… anxiously awaiting entry details, due dates, and such. I’m excited!
But part of me wishes that the homebrew competition was during the actual event, so that the public could see what goes on during serious beer judging. Oh well, I won’t complain too loudly!
@Mike One of the things that Julie said today was that she’s open to suggestions to make the festival better. I think I’m going to suggest at least a people’s choice competition during the actual festival.
@Dustin – That’s a swell idea, especially if tasting instructions (god I feel like a snob) and judging forms can be made available to the public.
Mike Clark–
Snob, perhaps– but my kind of snob.
This is great- how cool would it be if this grew into something that shut down dickson street and block ave. and the town square and featured regional breweries & home brewers with Marzens & Oktoberfest Lagers and lots of brahts & kraut and maybe beer maidens sporting Dirndls
As far as a an all out beer festival like foam fest- I think planners should look to the Magic City Beer Festival held each summer in Birmingham Alabama. I attended this past June and was amazed at how well put together it was and see no reason Fayetteville couldn’t do something comparable.
I think this has the potential to be very cool. As far as suggestions, I think it would be great if the festival wasn’t marred with the typical showing of funnel cake stands and inflatable bouncy things. Just my two cents. But brats sound great…
@InPelWeTrust–that Magic City Beer Festival looks great. It looks like more established/commercial microbreweries set up for that. That seems like a good idea, too.
Maybe add on a homemade sausage grilling contest?
I think it should be a full out German festival with lots of German food, German dancers and demonstrations, wiener dog races, etc. I have been to Oktoberfests in big cities and they are a lot of fun.
Here is one they do in Cleveland that is a really good family friendly event. http://clevelandoktoberfest.com/
Ingsoc–
Funnel cakes cane to America from Germany (Pennsylvania Dutch), so their presence at Oktoberfest isn’t entirely inappropriate. Besides, a funnel cake and a nice solid beer is a great combination.
On the other hand, bouncing is not very German at all, though a German did invent the zeppelin, a perfectly appropriate inflatable.
Perhaps someone can arrange to have zeppelins dropping funnel cakes on the crowd? It would be cool to see clouds of powdered sugar wafting down onto Dickson Street…just gotta watch out for the rain of hot grease.
…and while the zeppelins are up there, they may as well drop some brats. And burgers. Hindenburgers!!!
@Ingsoc- the Magic City Beer Festival is a really cool event, they do it at a registered national historic site which is cool, I’m not sure we have quite a venue in Fayetteville but if Bikes Babes & Bling can have its run of town for a failed weekend I don’t see why a full fledged and promoted beer festival (pimp that out on the Beer Advocate) wouldn’t be a good thing in our city
Speaking of zeppelins, it seems like Northwest Arkansas would be a good place for a zeppelin service offering special-occasion route service and scenic tours. For example, I’d like to be able to take a zeppelin to Eureka Springs. They could use the Milk Carton of the Ozarks for a mooring mast– it would be festive. Zeppelin seating for Razorback football games. They could serve the brats and Hindenburgers (would those be cooked well-done?) on board rather than dropping them.
In light of the potential uproar, I will refrain from suggesting a festival such as Zeppelins, Zydeco and Zucchini. I’d hate to start a flame war.
Ha! Hindenburgers.