The Oktoberfest takes place on the grounds of the Dayton Art Institute, offering a great selection of food, beer and wine, while offering a showcase of artists in various mediums.
2023 DATE: September 22-24, 2023
Location: Dayton Art Institute
456 Belmonte Park N
Dayton, OH 45405
Website: https://www.daytonartinstitute.org/upcoming-events/special-events/oktoberfest/
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This post documents my experience on September 23, 2018.
Out at the Dayton Art Institute…
…it wasn’t your average weekend.
Guests were climbing into oversized chairs…
…posing for crazy pictures…
…eating their weight in sauerkraut balls (Hey Hey Bar and Grill)…
…singing along with the Polka band…
…and maybe purchasing a funny hat…
…to celebrate this year’s Oktoberfest.
At the Oktoberfest, those with a craving for German food didn’t leave hungry…
…as there were brats (Schmidt’s Sausage Haus)…
…metts (I got carried away with the kraut)…
…homemade German potato salad and Jaeger schnitzel (Eintracht Singing Society)…
…German nachos…
…nuts, pretzels…
…an assortment of strudel (Original Strudel Factory)…
…and various kinds of beer…
…craft beer…
…bottled beer…
…and wine to wash it all down.
But if it was more your style to eat arepas (Arepas and Co)…
…gyros from the neighboring church (Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church)…
…or even a gourmet hot dog (Zombie Dogz)…
…the festival had enough food variety to satisfy your palate.
There were also choices on where to eat…
…as the main tent had some great Polka entertainment…
…the Wine Garden’s open and covered seating…
…gave access to more American music…
…and there was a sports-loving refuge with games playing in every corner.
And, finally, when people weren’t eating…
…they were working on arts and crafts in the FamilyFest area…
…feeling brave enough to request a caricature…
…or going through two large tents of artists…
…and shopping among hand-dyed apparel (Dyetology)…
…colorful glass works (Dustin Wagner)…
…impressive pottery (Artistic Earth Pottery)…
…elegant wooden bowls (Stahl Bowls)…
…amazing surreal paintings (Robert Walker)…
…jewelry…
…repurposed jewelry (Not Too Shabby Design Co)…
…and plenty of happy colorful hand puppets.