Whitefish’s Great Northwest Oktoberfest Drawing Closer
Activities at this year's Great Northwest Oktoberfest include steinholding, keg hurling, slalom beer keg races and dancing
By Mike Kordenbrock
Beer, brats and polka music are in the upcoming forecast for Whitefish with the arrival next week of the Great Northwest Oktoberfest.
The annual fall celebration is expected to require 5,000 bratwurst and 200 kegs of Hofbrau and Bayern beer to satisfy the thousands of attendees that will show up to Depot Park in Whitefish across the festival’s back-to-back weekends. The Whitefish Chamber of Commerce estimates that more than 8,000 people attend the annual festival.
Great Northwest Oktoberfest kicks off Sept. 26 at 5 p.m. with Local’s Night, which offers free entry to Flathead residents. The festival will continue Friday, Sept. 27 and Saturday, Sept. 28. The following week, the festival will go from Thursday, Oct. 3 through Saturday, Oct. 5. Thursdays and Fridays the festival runs from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays it goes from noon until 11 p.m. Admission is $10.
Activities at this year’s Oktoberfest include men’s and women’s steinholding contests, keg hurling and dancing. Live music will be played by British Columbia-based S-Bahn, local German brass band The Bavarian Echoes and The Europa Band out of Florida. Beer Barrel Slalom racing will also be back each evening when time allows, according to a press release from the Whitefish Chamber of Commerce.
The Oktoberfest Hop Queen competition, now in its 10th year, will start Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. at Logan’s Bar in the Grouse Mountain Lodge, with the finals and the crowning of a new queen planed for Oct. 3. The Hop Queen, who is the face of the festival and represents it in the Whitefish Winter Carnival Parade, is someone who “embodies the qualities that the community of Whitefish has come to relish in its absolute relentless pursuit of fun,” according to the festival’s website. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize, a $500 donation to the local charity of their choice, an authentic German dirndle dress, complimentary food and beverage and a floral hop crown.
Food trucks and vendors lined up for this year include 406 BBQ, The Sausage Queen, ZapoTaco, Piroshki Palace, KnucklHed BBQ, Frey Guys Funnel & More, Flathead Bubbles & Boba, Dave’s Gelato and Fresh Baked Cookie Co.
On tap will be Hofbrau’s Oktoberfest, dunkel, original lager and hefeweizen. Beers available from Bayern Brewery in Missoula include their Oktoberfest, Montana Original Light Lager, St. Walter Hefeweizen and Pilsener Lager. The festival will also have nonalcoholic beer, water and soda available for purchase.
The full schedule of events, and additional information, can be found at https://www.whitefishoktoberfest.com/.