Marcus Performing Arts Center
Press Release

The Original Milwaukee Oktoberfest will take place at the Marcus Center Grounds and Pere Marquette Park October 3-5

On October 3-5, the Marcus Center Grounds and Pere Marquette Park will transform downtown Milwaukee into a traditional Bavarian Oktoberfest celebration

By - Sep 12th, 2014 02:42 pm
On October 3-5, the Marcus Center Grounds and Pere Marquette Park will transform downtown Milwaukee into a traditional Bavarian Oktoberfest celebration activating both sides of the Milwaukee River with beer gardens, music and food.

In 1810, King Ludwig I of Bavaria proclaimed that the last sixteen days of September, ending with the first full weekend in October, shall be set aside for feasting and beer drinking to celebrate his upcoming wedding.  To celebrate this tradition, The Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, The Old German Beer Hall, Westown Association, Sazama’s Fine Catering, OnMilwaukee.com and Milwaukee County Parks will team up for the first time to celebrate a Bavarian style Oktoberfest at both the Marcus Center Grounds and in Pere Marquette Park. This event is free admission and is family friendly.

Marking the final weekend of the original festival in Munich, The Original Milwaukee Oktoberfest celebration will be October 3-5.  The Marcus Center Grounds and Pere Marquette festivities will held on Friday, October 3rd and Saturday, October 4th from 12:00 pm-11:00 pm and Sunday, October 5th from 11:00 am-6:00 pm.

An authentic festival tent and beer garden will be erected in the park.  Hofbräu Oktoberfest Beer, the original beer of King Ludwig’s Royal Brewery, will be featured, along with traditional Bavarian foods including giant fresh baked pretzels, bratwurst, wieners and pork sandwiches.

The Marcus Center Grounds will feature food and beverage by Sazama’s Fine Catering at the Sazama’s River’s Edge Patio. Dinner specials and concession menu is available at: mkeoktoberfest.com/food.

Keg tapping will take place at Pere Marquette Park on Friday, October 3rd and at the Marcus Center Grounds on Saturday, October 4th.  Music and entertainment also will take place throughout the festival weekend at both locations.

The line up for the Marcus Center’s Peck Pavilion includes The Brewhaus Polka Kings, The Mike Schneider Band, The Freistadt Alte Kameraden Band, Talisman, The Squeezettes, Polka Floyd, and Harvest Polka Mass with Father Mike Hammer. The Glockenspiel will perform every two hours.

The line up for Pere Marquette includes Blaskapelle, Polka Floyd, Sigmund Snopek, Thomas Dietrich, Austrian Express, and Ferd Buchel, Tony Gorenc, and Jim Thull.

Full dates and times of musical entertainment is available at: mkeoktoberfest.com/music.

Too Much Metal designed an official MKE Oktoberfest shirt for this year’s combined celebration. The shirt proceeds will help subsidize the cost of running the event to help keep festivities free. Shirts are available for purchase through Shoplocal on OnMilwaukee.com. Oktoberfest Official Shirt

All guests at Oktoberfest must be 21 or be accompanied by an adult. All guests over 21 will be issued a wristband.

For more information on the Oktoberfest event, to see a schedule of events and more, please visit the official website- MKEOktoberfest.com.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

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