NORTH WALES – In Germany, Oktoberfest is a 16 day festival that 6 million people attend every year, German exchange student Manu Barney remembers Oktoberfest in back in Germany as a crazy time. But in North Wales there is a five hour festival that approximately 500 people attended to celebrate community and support local businesses.
This year the Oktoberfest was Saturday October 7, 2012, from 12pm to 6pm along 2nd street, with a Kids Zone at Weingartner Park. The Kids Zone had a live DJ, balloon animals, a magician, and bouncy houses. The venders ranged from Costco to the North Wales Water Authority, giving out free color changing water bottles. Companies showed off their businesses with free services such as, free smoothie samples and free massages. Big North Wales supporters of the Oktoberfest, Tex Mex Connection and St. Peters Lutheran Church had live German music and German food. On the corner of 2nd and Church, the local Boy Scouts also had hot dogs, funnel cake, and free maps of the festivities.
As everything in North Wales is, the Oktoberfest was quaint, but that did not stop others in the surrounding area from checking it out. There were cars crammed in every side street with free parking in the North Wales Library, North Wales Elementary School, and the Train Station. Even though the Oktoberfest was smaller than last year, it was still a great time for the community to get together for food and to celebrate German tradition.