Oaktoberfest - Oakland

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Oaktoberfest is an annual street festival in the Dimond district, centered at Fruitvale and MacArthur. It's a local Octoberfest-style celebration, and is a 501(c)(3) non-profit fundraising event with proceeds going to local community development. The event is free and open to the public. The festival was inspired by the Dimond District's history as a home to beer gardens and dance halls in the era before Prohibition.¹

2014 Festival Information

Saturday, October 4, 2014, 11:00-6:00

Located near the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Fruitvale Avenue, the booths within the pavilion will have fun activities like arts & crafts, face painting and a jump house, plus refreshments like snow cones, popcorn and kettlecorn. Festival goers can also learn about other amenities and programs offered by the Oakland Parks & Recreation Department. For more information, please contact Michelle Doppelt, Recreation Supervisor, at [email protected] or (510) 681-5129.

2013 Festival Information

The 6th Annual Oaktoberfest was on Saturday, October 5, 11am-6pm.

This year Oakland Mayor Jean Quan will tap the first keg at 10:45 am in a traditional Munich style Oktoberfest kick off. Highlights include:

the Bill Brand Biergarten (at Fruitvale Ave. and MacArthur Blvd.) with 20 local craft breweries;
the Mad Zymurgist Homebrew Competition hosted in the HopTech Homebrewers' Alley;
the Family-Friendly Rootbier Garten;
the Wells Fargo Bank Family Stage filled with fun for the entire family;
the Main Stage with traditional German and modern Oakland entertainment; and
plenty of food and vendor booths in-between, including beer-food pairings, German inspired artisan entrees, cooking demos, alongside traditional favorites to satisfy everyone.

Tickets on sale at www.Oaktoberfest.org

Volunteers always welcome!

For more info, to volunteer, sponsor, vend, or advertise: www.Oaktoberfest.org or 452-7392

The erroneous inclusion of the definite article "the" in the official title of the festival ("Oaktoberfest in the Dimond"²) can be forgiven because the event is such a perfect combination of beer-centricity and community togetherness.

Although the central focus of Oaktoberfest is beer (in 2012 there were approximately 20 different breweries represented), there are also food vendors, several music stages and lots of activities for kids, making it a surprisingly kid-friendly event. There's also a root beer garden for those wanting non-alcoholic beverages.

Notes

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0Ox46a49hs is a video exposition of the connection between Dimond beery past and present, including photos of Tepper's beer garden and an interesting reference to Dimond's "A" problem. The poster of the video also had an AWESOME website about the Dimond District at dimondoakland.org, but alas it seems to be no more. Vestiges of the site can be found at the Internet Archive of the site at: https://web.archive.org/web/20110605021332/http://www.dimondoakland.org/ and similar.

2. See the Neighborhoods page for a discussion of the "the" problem.