Cheers! Watch as Oktoberfest brews up another successful year
There were lederhosen a plenty in Shrewsbury at the weekend as the annual Oktoberfest returned the to the The Quarry Park.
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The event by Shropshire Festivals, has been running for a number of years, and organisers said it getting “better every year”.
This year's Oktoberfest on Friday and Saturday, coinciding with the last two days of the famed two-week German festival, gave plenty of nods to Bavarian with more than half the attendees dressing up for the occasions.
“We had amazing weather so we were really lucky this year,” said Beth Heath, from Shropshire Festivals. “It was a hard build up because of the bad weather, and it is always a gamble putting on an event in October so we were lucky we had great weather all weekend.
“We've been doing this for around seven years now and each year it gets better. What has amazed me is the amount of costumes now. In the first year that we did it, around five per cent of people dressed up, now it around 50 per cent of people getting into the swing of things. It is amazing to see as people put a lot of effort in.”
She said the festival included a number of massive marquees, meaning the event was almost entirely under-cover, and there was packed line-up of entertainment in the form of top local bands and celebrated comedians.
“The highlights for me was the car pool karaoke, who had their best year yet and it was really hilarious and all courtesy of Volvo Cars Shrewsbury.
“There was some amazing bands on, including an Oasis tribute act on Friday night, enjoyed by a lot of people under able to get tickets for the real thing. Hot rocks were great too and the general atmosphere was wonderful. It was great fun and people come with a great attitude.”
But she said the real star of Oktoberfest each year is the beer.
“People do say to us why we don't have that many German beers, but for us it is all about showcasing Shropshire brewers," said Beth. "Not only are they way better than German beers, but we have noticed a trend with many of them doing lager now as well as real ales. It shows a change in demand is a lighter rather than hoppy beer. But we also had some great local ciders, and the cocktail bar queue was always long, thanks to Shropshire Distillery and Shrewsbury Gin who had a great festival.”
She said Oktoberfest will return at the first weekend of October next year.
