Roll out the barrel

Oktoberfest returns for third year

The revived Oktoberfest, which returns today for its third year, has expanded with the goal of drawing even more visitors than last year.

Oktoberfest will be held this afternoon and Saturday afternoon in Hill Wheatley Plaza. The seasonal, German-themed festival is a fundraiser for The Faces Foundation, a nonprofit organization that pays for children with facial defects to have reconstructive surgery.

The festival is set to feature more food,

beer, competitions and vendors than the year before, according to its director, Ernie Hinz.

“We’re taking it to another level,” Hinz said.

Last year’s Oktoberfest drew around 1,800 guests and generated $6,000 in revenue — a 20 percent increase from the festival’s inaugural run the year before. Hinz said he and festival director Dick Antoine grew the festival’s volunteer base this year, which opened up new possibilities.

“Our infrastructure has grown simply because of the manpower that we have,” Hinz said.

Following the 2016 festival, Hinz and Antoine said they were looking to expand their product by adding a dog show, a beer holding contest and a children’s area. Oktoberfest 2017 will feature all three events.

Hinz said the dog show will be staged in partnership with an animal shelter, and the children’s area will be offered in coordination with Mid-America Science Museum and Emergent Arts. He said he is pleased to have the organizations involved in the decision-making process.

“They asked me, ‘What do you want me to do with it?’ I said, ‘It’s yours. Do what you want,’” Hinz said.

The festival’s beer and food, which are the staples of any Oktoberfest, have also been expanded for this year’s festival. Hinz said the festival will feature six private brewers, including Superior Bath House Brewery, Lost Forty of Little Rock and Carson Beer of Indiana.

These vendors will serve their product alongside wine, jagermeister and traditional German fare such as schnitzel and bratwurst.

“We’ll have a beer garden area that will be dedicated just to all of the beer vendors and the beer trucks,” Hinz said.

Hinz also said he has tried to include as many local businesses in the festival as possible. He said the beer garden is strategically placed at the end of a row of downtown Hot Springs businesses that will be selling their products at the festival.

“Every one of the downtown businesses that’s involved, people are going to be walking back and forth through that, because they’ve got to get the beer and they’ve got to get the food,” he said.

Hinz said he heard visitors will be traveling from Texas, Indiana and Kentucky, among other places, to partake in Oktoberfest. He also hopes to draw a crowd from the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, which will continue to show films both tonight and Saturday night.

Hinz said this year’s festival is part of the larger effort of Oktoberfest.

“Each year, we try to just enhance it and grow with it,” Hinz said.