Willkommen to the 20th Anniversary of Oktoberfest Sep. 25-26
Posted by GSDispatch Editor in by Lee’s Summit Chamber, Events, GSD Online
Get out the lederhosen and steins-it’s the season for Oktoberfest! And the best festival in the Midwest happens to turn twenty this year! Come celebrate with us the 20th anniversary of Lee’s Summit Oktoberfest in downtown Lee’s Summit, September 25 and 26.
Before we tap the keg and turn up the oom-pah, here’s a bit of history about the popular fall festival held all over the world. The first Oktoberfest was not really a festival at all, but the public celebration of the wedding of Crown Prince Luitpold I and Princess Theressa of Bavaria on October 17, 1810. Held on a large meadow in Munich, the party featured a horse race, beer, food, music and dancing.
Anniversary celebrations continued each year, usually starting in late September and ending in the first week of October. Oktoberfests have been held in Munich for almost 200 years (with the exception of wartime). As immigrants from Germany came to North America, smaller Oktoberfests sprouted up in their communities.
Lee’s Summit’s first Oktoberfest was held in 1990 and has grown to welcome more than 70,000 festival goers to the community each year.
The Lee’s Summit Chamber’s Oktoberfest begins September 25, from 5-10 p.m. and continues September 26, from 9 a.m.-10 p.m. The festival is fun for young and young at heart. Kids Street, arts and crafts, authentic German meals, beer and brat tents, Biergarten, carnival, continuous live entertainment, Wiener Dog and Cutest Baby contests, R-7 student art show, German dancers, and just a whole lot of fun highlights the weekend. A commemorative 20th anniversary porcelain stein will be available for purchase in honor of the event at brat tents and the Biergarten. The commemorative stein will be available for pre-purchase beginning on Monday, September 21, for $20 at the Chamber office, 220 SE Main St.
Oktoberfest would not be complete without the excitement and entertainment at the Biergarten. Oom-pah bands begin playing on Friday at 5 p.m. until 10 p.m., and begin again on Saturday at 2 p.m. and play until 10 p.m. German meals will be served in the Biergarten from 5 -9 p.m. on Friday evening and 4-9 p.m. on Saturday. The delicious $10 meal, catered by Forbes Woodfire Grill, includes a choice of Beef Stroganoff or Bavarian Pulled Pork, Red Cabbage, German Parmesan Potatoes and Apple Strudel. A kid’s meal for $5 will be available as well including Chicken Strips, Chips and a Cookie. And, don’t forget to visit the Biergarten from 7-9 a.m. on Saturday morning for the delicious “all you can eat” Pancake Breakfast sponsored by the American Legion Robert L. Clore Post 189.
The carnival is open Thursday, September 24 from 6-9 p.m., Friday, September 25, from 5-10 p.m., and Saturday, September 26, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. On Sunday, the carnival features a special that includes ”all you can ride” from 1-5 p.m. for a $20 wristband.
Kids’ Street features face painting, puppetry, pony rides, mini-pumpkin decorating, moonwalk, Lego’s, Lincoln Logs, and many other kid-oriented activities. The activities are free, with the exception of the pony rides and moonwalk. Kids’ Street is open Friday from 5-9 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The Lee’s Summit R-7 School District, Art Department (grades 7-12) will exhibit art work this year in a new location. To see and stroll among the student work, go south past the railroad tracks. There you will discover works by students who attend Summit Lakes Middle School, Bernard Campbell Middle School, Pleasant Lea Middle School, Lee’s Summit North HS, Lee’s Summit West HS and Lee’s Summit HS. An assortment of artwork in diverse media will be displayed. You’ll enjoy various prints, watercolors, drawings, paintings, graphic design, still lifes and portraits.
National Art Honor Society will have students available on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. painting faces (little ones love this!) for a small donation. All proceeds will go towards an art scholarship for a deserving high school art student. The hours that student artwork will be displayed will be Friday, 5-9 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m- 9 p.m. Come out and support the work of our artistic and imaginative art
students!
The juried Arts and Crafts Fair is held on Friday evening and all day Saturday, with artists displaying their original works in watercolors, oils, photography, sculpture, pottery, jewelry, paper fiber, glass or wood.
Last year the festival featured a Wiener Dog Contest which turned out to be one of the highlights of the weekend. Local wiener dogs sported their favorite costume and paraded the streets of downtown Lee’s Summit. This year, the Wiener Dog Contest continues on Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. A new contest this year is the Cutest Baby Contest. There are several different categories from babies to
toddlers. The event is sponsored by Happy Bottomus, Champagne Baby, and Buttons for Bellies-all downtown merchants. This contest begins at 10 a.m. at the Main Stage in front of City Hall. To register for either contest, contact the Chamber office, sponsor stores, or visit lsoktoberfest.com to download an entry form. Please enter both contests prior to Friday, September 25.
So, welcome one and all again to the season of sizzling bratwurst, sounds of oom-pah and the excitement of the best fall festival in the Midwest. It’s a wundervoll good time! For a full schedule of entertainment, activities and event map, visit www.lsoktoberfest.com.
