Twin Cities Oktoberfest

I went to octoberfest last year and it was awesome the food music and Sarahs Tipsy pies! We're delicious! She will be there again in 2025 so get some they are just so delicious 😋

Underwhelmed by the lack of selection. For an Oktoberfest that has been around for so long, I expected something bigger...more beer vendors etc.

My husband and I attend each year, but this year was the first time we brought our kids. I should have double checked on admission charges before purchasing tickets and accidentally bought wristbands for the whole family as a misunderstanding. I didn’t point it out and was completely fine and accepted my error and did not ask or complain for a refund. The main person checking us in made a larger deal about it and scoffed and asked me why I purchased more wristbands than adults in attendance and I apologized and said I misunderstood and thought they were admission wristbands (it was our first time with our kids). She was a little gruff and said the kids can’t have wristbands because they can’t drink. I told her I understood and kept hoping she would let it go since I made no attempt nor wanted to ask or expect a refund for the wristbands as it was 100% my error. I’m thankful for the other person next to her who smiled warmly and told me it was ok and helped the initial person check us in. The event was fine, fun in fact and family friendly. Maybe the first person checking in was having a rough day, but it was a bit of a dimmer.

$10 needed to even have a drink for a wristband, after buying two drinks at $10/each it averaged out to $15 per drink. Has a gimmick feel to it, don’t be fooled just because it’s at the state fair grounds.

Absolutely had the best time!!!

Far too loud to have conversation, beer lines were too long, and not enough seating.

Best Oktoberfest in the country. I go every year!

Great beer, food and music!

Came out to Twin Cities Oktoberfest to celebrate a friend's birthday and wasn't totally sure what to expect, but figured it would be a bit more of a party since it's at the State Fairgrounds. It ended up being smaller than I thought, but still a good time! They had some fun activities going on, such as stein-holding, hammerschlagen, and axe throwing. The only downside was that most of the activities cost extra, and the Stein-holding contest was super early in the day. Honestly, wish they had saved that for later, for when the crowd was a bit more warmed up. Still, it made for a fun afternoon hangout, just maybe not an all-day activity. Worth checking out once, but there are certainly other Oktoberfests around the Twin Cities that offer more and require less pay to play.

The event was fun! Only down side is you have to pay for everything even the activities like hammerslaugin. Drinks are $11 each ticket to get in was $11 games range from $5-$15. I probably won't come back

Tonight I attended Day 1 of the @tcoktoberfest. Full of music, food, vendors, music and of course plenty of merriment. I grabbed a stein of @lupulin_brewing Marzen to hoist while screaming Ein Prosit at the top of my lungs. Other drink options were available from @sociablecider, @utepilsbrewing, and @liftbridge. For food, you do not want to miss @akis_breadhaus Pretzels (get the Cranberry mustard) and a @gerhardsbrats. Other food like @tipsypies and @bigguysbbqroadhouse smelled great too! If in a shopping mood, you can find local goods from @germanspecialtyimports and @made_in_minn. Grab something with the holiday season coming up. There is still a full day today to celebrate the last weekend of Oktoberfest, so make sure you get out.

Last year we went to the Oktoberfest at the Gasthof in Minneapolis. This year, we saw the Groupon for the Twin Cities Oktoberfest and decided to try it out. The deal was, entry, a glass stein, and your first beer - for 4 people - for $50. Sounded alright. Parking was pretty easy on street at the fairgrounds. There was a comic book convention and a YMCA garage sale going on elsewhere on the grounds, but I was able to park on the same block as the Oktoberfest (in the Eco building). The glass mugs were 24 ounces and real glass. Pretty heavy duty. Not bad for a complimentary mug. It was kind of plain and just said Twin Cities Oktoberfest on one side and Summit on the other, but it did it's job. The beer selection was all from Summit. They had a special Oktoberfest brew, a pilsner, an IPA, a special second extra dry IPA, a cider, and an oatmeal stout. Good variety of choices, but all from Summit like I said. Beer refills were kind of a downer. $9 to get refilled. Kind of pricey. I mean it's 24 ounces, but can-wise that's still $4.50 a can. Drink tickets were sold separately from the beer filling stations. The ticket lines were slow but the fill-up lines were fast. If you bought a bunch of tickets ahead of time you were in good shape with short waits. They had two wines available... a white and a red... but we didn't check those out. The food was sort of a mix. The "authentic" german food was good. I had the pork dinner plate and it was pretty authentic. The german potato salad was not the best I'd had, and the cabbage was definitely canned stuff, but it was ok. $9.75 for the dinner plate. Not a bad deal. The pretzels were straight from the mall or the freezer aisle. They were advertising standard "Super Pretzel" brand knots. Ugh. Not at all a bavarian pretzel. They also had cheese curds and corn dogs, in county fair style trailers. Also very german, right?? :-) They had a few games set up. Hammerschlagen was setup in 2 locations. $3 a round to play. They also had free bean bag toss. A carnival/midway style stall was setup where you could throw baseballs at beer bottles and break them to win, but no one was winning. They also had a few rides setup. Bumper cars, a swinging platform type thing, a scrambler type setup with apple cars. Not a lot of people were on them but they were available. The outdoor "party" tent had the bean bag toss, and a speaker setup so you could hear the band. It was basically just a place for the smokers to go. There wasn't anything else going on. Porter potties also outside, but working bathrooms indoors too. All very clean and no lines. Well done. There were also some vendors inside. You could buy german wear. I finally got sporting hat with a feather. There was another with various german souvenirs. You could also have your family crest (of any nationality) printed out with a brief history. This is the same booth that is at the regular state fair. Then there were some people selling a variety of pickled veggies. Overall, I had fun. Lots of german people too, but not many people in traditional dress. The band also played more standards and country music than german music or polka. We joked about them playing a bunch of Johnny Cash and Sweet Caroline as "very german inspired tunes". It's not at all as authentic as the ones put on by the local german restaurants in the area, but it was still fun. Stars subtracted for the high beer cost and less than stellar food options.

This festival has the feel of a real German beer hall, good food, good beer ,good German music