Mount Angel, OR. Oktoberfest organizers are planning to go ahead with their annual festival which will take place Sept 16-19. One big reason is to support 50 nonprofit food booths; many rely heavily on the income from Oktoberfest sales to fund their organizations. These groups garnered $750,000 in 2019, but in 2020 coronavirus restrictions made an in-person festival impossible. This year, Mount Angel Oktoberfest organizers say they’re currently monitoring the pandemic situation. “There are increasing numbers of Covid-19 cases. We don’t fully know how this will affect Oktoberfest as the festival is weeks away and changes are rapid. We are moving forward with planning a festival. We invite everyone to join us, we understand there will be some people who choose not to attend because of Covid-19. Many people are very excited to see the Oktoberfest return to a live event this year. We will follow the requirements given by the state and our local governing bodies.”
Large crowds typically gather in the small town in the Willamette Valley every September for this event, but coronavirus restrictions have made an in-person festival more complicated.
As far as logistics, they explain much of Oktoberfest is held out of doors, where the risk of Covid-19 transmission is reduced. The food booths are accessed by purchases made out of doors, the Prostgarten and Hopfengarten are tents. The Biergarten and Weingarten have very large outdoor tent areas. The Bandstand is open air. Kindergarten is an open field.
Entertainment is scheduled, but the U.S. did not open its borders to Germany on August 1st as was anticipated. At this time it is unlikely the musical group, Donaumusikanten, will be able to entertain.
- Oktoberfest will be held Sept 16-19.
- The Kickoff Party is Sept 11th
Wiener Dog Races are a highlight. These fierce competitors go head-to-head or perhaps head-to-tail. They line up in the starting box and tear down the race field.
From Mount Angel Oktoberfest:
The 56th Mount Angel Oktoberfest runs from Sept 16-19, 2021. Join us as we celebrate the “joy of being together again!”
This year’s festival will be full-on fun! Can’t wait to see you all in September.
There is no more appropriate setting for an American version of the “Old World” Oktoberfest than in Mount Angel, Oregon. The small community was settled by German pioneers in the 1800’s and readily reminds one of the lush Bavarian Countryside.
Oregon’s oldest and best-loved Oktoberfest began in 1966 as a traditional harvest festival to celebrate the bounty of the earth and the goodness of creation. It is the largest folk festival in the Northwest.
