NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Nashville Oktoberfest has been a tradition since 1980, and this weekend it's back, in person for the first time since 2019.
The event starts at 5 p.m. Thursday, and will go through Sunday at Bicentennial Mall. Anyone can come to enjoy the festivities for free or get VIP tickets online.
The last in-person festival had over 300,000 people from all over the country attend. This year is expected to be just as big if not bigger.
Both authentic German and local beers will be featured. Proceeds for each beer bought will go toward local nonprofits. People can vote for their favorite local beer to be featured next year.
There will be local vendors and artisans, a variety of food, live music, and lots of friendly competition including costume competitions for dogs and their humans, a wiener dog race, and one that, Nashville Oktoberfest Director of Marketing, Juliana Stachurski, said tests a unique strength.
"We have something that is very authentic which is a stein holding competition," said Stachurski. "And what that means is you get a one-liter stein of beer and you have to hold it straight out from your body. And you can't move. You can't drop it. And whoever is able to hold that stein of beer longest wins. And if you haven't tried to do that it's really heavy. And it gets really heavy really really fast."
The reigning champion for that competition held his beer for 13 minutes last year. People can still register to try to beat him, and find out how to get involved in the other events at thenashvilleoktoberfest.com.
