On Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 4 and 5, at Bryant and Dana streets, there will be German beer, food, music, games and even a pretzel eating contest from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The weekend is put together by Steins Beer Garden & Restaurant, Tied House and the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, who all teamed up for the first time last year to bring an authentic Oktoberfest celebration with more of a community feel to the Peninsula. Read this story I wrote last year -- Bringing Munich to Mountain View -- for more details on how the event came to be.
Organizers said that last year, the event drew crowds of around 6,000 people and this year, they're expecting anywhere from 10,000 to 14,000.
Above: Cody Van Houten, a bartender at Steins Beer Garden and Restaurant, pours a Weihenstephaner Vitus Weizenbock, left, and Weihenstephaner Weissbier, right, a few of the many German beers on tap for the 2013 Oktoberfest. Photo by Veronica Weber.
The event is open to the public and all ages but, of course, to enjoy the imported and locally made German brews, you must be 21 and older. Tickets are $7, and then you must purchase a stein (0.5 liter for $10 or 1 liter for $15) and use your tickets to drink. The smaller stein size requires one ticket to fill and the larger, two tickets.
This year, the event is sponsored by PayPal ? so for beer drinkers, pay for your ticket with the PayPal mobile app and get $5 off your stein purchase.
Tied House will be pouring its special Oktoberfest seasonal beer. Also expect imported brews from German beer houses Weihenstephaner, Hofbrau, Spaten and Franziskaner.
Food will be similar to last year, with sausages from Steins and Tied House; a range of food from San Jose-based Teske's Germania (smoked pork chops, spaetzle, goulash, bratqrust, German potato salad) and pretzels from local favorite Esther's German Bakery.
Joe Smiell Band and the San Francisco German Band are returning to perform, along with Oktoberfest band Alpiners USA.
And it's not all about the brews and bites: Proceeds from the weekend will help raise money for the Chamber of Commerce's Student Outreach Advancement Resource (SOAR) program, which awards scholarships to local high school and community college students to encourage them to attend a four-year university, and to Community Services Agency (CSA).
Pre-purchase tickets here.
For more information, go to mvoktoberfest.com.
