The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cleveland Oktoberfest is back — and very much bigger than ever
German-flavored, beer-soaked event returns to Cuyahoga fairgrounds with a new second weekend
What’s better than a weekend of beer, brats and bands?
Two consecutive weekends celebrating the end of summer with the last oompahs before the weather turns cold.
That’s exactly what the Cleveland Oktoberfest is providing this year with its lederhosen-friendly Labor Day Weekend affair, followed by a second weekend of fun Sept. 10 and 11 at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in Berea.
“If you look at the event industry right now, especially outdoor events, it’s pretty evident people are starving for it now more than ever,” said Adam Roggenburk, CEO of USA Expo, which produces the Cleveland Oktoberfest. “Because we lost the event last year, the major difference is for the first time we’re going to two weekends.
“There are a lot more entertainment options, and we’re kind of reinvesting into the community in a bigger and better way just because of the extra two days we have.”
That speaks to why despite going Friday through Monday the first weekend, the event runs only Friday and Saturday the closing weekend.
“We were very cognizant of the Cleveland Browns and not wanting to have an event knowing the first game is that Sunday, so
we’ll just be open Friday and Saturday.”
While expanding to two weeks was designed to cater to the public’s appetite for outdoor fun, Roggenburk acknowledged the move has been on the Cleveland Oktoberfest radar for a while.
“We honestly have thought it about for the last three or four years,” Roggenburk said. “Knowing that Labor Day Weekend is kind of the last weekend for families with a lot of people going out of town, we’ve noted in looking at our data we have a lot of repeat customers.
“The majority of the people we surveyed had not been to Oktoberfest because it was Labor Day Weekend. So we tried to find an opportunity to expand the event. We felt that this year, after COVID, was the first great year to kick it off.”
“We’re going to have people who come out to the first weekend return for the second weekend. We fully expect this to be the norm moving forward.” — Adam Roggenburk, CEO of USA Expo, which produces the Cleveland Oktoberfest
The Cleveland Oktoberfest features more than 20 types of Oktoberfeststyle beer, including offerings from Bavarian brewers Paulaner and HackerPschorr, as well as 16 local craft brewers competing for Best Oktoberfest Brew.
The beer offerings are complemented with Restaurant Row, featuring 15 German and European establishments (including Schmidt’s of Columbus, Seven Roses, Das Schnitzel Haus, Frank’s Bratwurst and Oktoberfest’s own food concessions).
Returning are popular traditional events such as the Cleveland Glockenspiel, which is the largest Glockenspiel in the country, as well as the everpopular wiener dog races, daily beer-stein holding contests and a Miss Oktoberfest contest.
In addition to familyfriendly activities, including an inflatable bouncer, a mechanical bull, Otto the Wiener Dog, tattoo artist, face painting and a marionette show, there will be fireworks both weekends.
“It’s really for everyone, and the demographic in the day changes into in the night,” Roggenburk said. “The term ‘Oktoberfest’ to someone over the age of 40 or 50 is cultural. When you get younger, the term Oktoberfest kind of means party, get-together and enjoying time with friends and family.
“We kind of get the best of both worlds merging of these two cultures. It’s really the largest event in Northeast Ohio, attracting more than 100,000 people.”
Roggenburk is pretty confident the second weekend is here to stay.
“We’re getting a lot of great feedback from the community,” Roggenburk said. “We’re going to have people who come out to the first weekend return for the second weekend. We fully expect this to be the norm moving forward.”