Roll out the barrel for Oktoberfest fun!
It may not be October yet, but it’s close enough for everyone who loves a good Oktoberfest. The annual Vankleek Hill Oktoberfest over the September 24 weekend was filled with fun and fantastic festivities for everyone, along with lots of good locally-brewed beer to slake anyone’s thirst.
The fun kicked off early Friday afternoon with the opening of the fairgrounds as food and drink vendors set up their kiosks and presented a cosmopolitan smorgasbord of delightful dishes ranging from English “pub grub” to wholesome natural organic dessert fare. Several tent “taverns” were set up around the fairgrounds to provide visitors with glasses and steins foaming over with a variety of beers from amber ale to lager.
Following the Oktoberfest parade through town down to the fairgrounds for the official start of the festival, spectators crowded around the festival staging areas for the opening evening rounds of the traditional sausage-eating contest, the stein-holding competition, and the keg-throwing event. Saturday saw a continuation of these classic Oktoberfest fun challenges.
Live music, from polka favourites to classic rock, entertained the Oktoberfest audience throughout the weekend. Visitors to the fairgrounds also had the chance to watch the craft beer competition results. Those inclined to their own homebrewing and looking for a new challenge got to sign up for some lessons at the School of Bock. Master accordion-player Walter Ostanek and his band kept toes tapping with a mix of polka favourites and classic rock. The Real Bananas Michelle Chouinard (left), Jessica Vu, and Alexandre Beaudry prove that looking good for a sausage-eating contest is almost as good as winning it.
The fun kicked off early Friday afternoon with the opening of the fairgrounds as food and drink vendors set up their kiosks...
Bavarian miss Kristina Bromley (left) and Sophia Giaccone show the strain of trying to win the Stein-holding Contest.