Oktoberfest taking one year off to expand

Downtown Milwaukee’s annual Oktoberfest will take a year off in 2017 as organizers seek to expand the event into a 16-day, regional festival possibly held in the area around the new Milwaukee Bucks arena being built downtown.

Event organizers are seeking to find a new downtown home for the festival in 2018.

“With all of the excitement surrounding the new Bucks’ arena, we have reached out to the team in hope of exploring the option of making the festival part of the Live Block,” Hans Weissgerber III, managing director of HB Milwaukee and one of the Oktoberfest organizers, said in a statement announcing that the festival will take the year off.

Spokesmen for the Bucks could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The Westown Association and HB Milwaukee Inc. have collaborated on the annual festival in Pere Marquette Park, at N. Old World 3rd and W. State streets, since 2012.

The festival had also been held on Old World 3rd St. for four years prior to moving into the park. The Marcus Center joined the festival east of the river in 2013.

“Pere Marquette Park is no longer a viable option for supporting the event as we grow it into a regional attraction,” Weissgerber said in the statement.

HB Milwaukee’s Fest-Tech division has produced and managed the event in past years.

“We have succeeded in bringing an authentic Munich-style Oktoberfest to Milwaukee, and the response from the public has proven that people want this level of quality, but in a grander scale that befits Milwaukee,” he said in the statement.

In seeking to build the size and scope

of the event, Weissgerber has partnered with Craig Pruscha, managing partner of The Northmen Group LLC and owner of Bistro Z restaurant.

In 2018, the group is seeking to add street performers, rides and a themed village of unique retailers.

In addition to larger tents, new vendors and entertainment attractions, the organizers also are seeking to have the event run for 16 days “to provide a hearty, traditional celebration and maximize opportunity for the surrounding downtown businesses,” according to the statement.

“Our goal for this event is to transcend the stigma of drunken revelry and drive our community’s hospitality while celebrating Milwaukee’s heritage,” Pruscha said in the statement. “This event has the potential to bring the attention of a national audience, while also driving a strong wave of business revenues to downtown Milwaukee and surrounding communities.”

The festival will continue to collaborate with the Westown Association when it returns in 2018.

Occurring annually in late September and October, the festival is modeled in the image of the original Oktoberfest in Munich, featuring an authentic beer tent, traditional food, beer and entertainment.