This post documents my experience on September 3, 2010.
You can also read my experience in 2023 at https://ohiofestivals.net/cleveland-oktoberfest/
This past Labor Day weekend, the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds were transformed…
…with inflatable German beer bottles…
…and impressive sand valkyries.
Yes, it was once again time for the Cleveland Labor Day Oktoberfest.
Right off the bat, it’s important for me to say that I couldn’t help but compare this Oktoberfest to the German-American Festival the week before. With its own property to construct to the festival, along with the beautiful natural environment, Oregon’s festival had a great advantage.
Cleveland’s version seemed to do the best it could with the resources available. Without the trees and shrubs to create a sliver of Bavaria, it used property structures…
…like this one…
…to create an interior biergarten…
…with lively German music…
…and a variety of (mostly) local micro-breweries set up along the wall.
For those in search of German beer, Hofbräu and Warsteiner varieties were available…
…at a Budweiser themed booth in the midst of German food vendors…
…such as Cleveland’s Seven Roses and Der Braumeister.
From the latter, I got this wonderful potato pancake Reuben…
…and this not-so-wonderful Bavarian Cream ice cream.
My other ice cream option there was the Black Forest, but the woman only laughed and said, “This ain’t McDonald’s” when I asked to sample it first.
I’m still scratching my head.
Apart from food, other German products were mostly available…
…in the commercial hall.
There, you could shop for…
…German pride gifts…
…steins…
…clothing…
…gingerbread…
…clocks…
…and even (Amish) cheese.
And if shopping didn’t work off enough calories to make you hungry for more, you could find cultural events in some of the other fairground structures. One building we walked in…
… had a dance performance in Bavarian costumes…
…which you can check out here.
And they weren’t the only ones in German attire…
…Bavarian Americans made their presence known.
No matter the dress, most visitors head to the Cleveland Glockenspiel…
…where the shots were colorful…
…and German-style gifts were tossed to the crowd every hour…
…as witnessed here.
But that wasn’t the only thing available for free.
One of the vendors present was Canton’s Sugardale. But rather than sell their hot dogs products, they cut them in threes and gave them away…
…as free samples.
Set near the location of the festival’s Weiner Dog Races, I took advantage of these free tasty treats…
…as well as a photo-op.