40th Anniversary Oktoberfest

Mark your calendars – On Saturday, Oct. 7 Honolulu Avenue will host one of the largest outdoor Oktoberfest celebrations in Southern California!

It all began in 1977 when the Montrose Chamber created this Bavarian event to honor the German heritage in the Crescenta Valley and revive a tradition that started in 1956 at Crescenta Valley Park, then referred to as Hindenburg Park. In 1956, the very first Oktoberfest in California took place there. Pretty amazing! We host the fourth longest continuously running Oktoberfest in California (number one is the Oktoberfest at the Phoenix Club put on by the German Cultural Society). The idea for Oktoberfest was to create a fun community event for everyone to enjoy and celebrate the German history in the area. If you didn’t know already, in the 1930s hundreds of thousands of Germans immigrated to America, many of them settling in Los Angeles and, in particular, La Crescenta. According to local historian Mike Lawler, “A group of German-Americans got together and developed a private park specifically for German-oriented groups to rent for various cultural celebrations. They named it Hindenburg Park after then-president of Germany, Paul Von Hindenburg. And before WWII, flags with swastikas were displayed there, not because they were Nazis, but because that was the national flag of Germany, their homeland.

“The park was a popular location, drawing German-Americans from all over California for weekend events. Hindenburg Park was a German-American cultural center. They put on German plays, ate German food and listened to German music. The park featured a statue of Beethoven. From the early ’30s to the late ’50s, Hindenburg Park was a mecca for German-Americans.”

This open-air festival is a tradition in the community and something that the entire family will enjoy. We will of course have true German beer and food. All of our 2017 Oktoberfest German beers are brewed in Munich, Germany and are traditional German beers. On tap will be Spaten Lager, Franziskaner Weis and Spaten Oktoberfestbier Ur-Märzen, the world’s first Oktoberfest beer. We will have domestic beers and craft beers on tap as well as pouring these Oktoberfest beers. And what better way to enjoy your beer than with a traditional Bavarian sausage made by Montrose’s own Schreiner’s Fine Sausages, which supplies Pink’s, Dodger Stadium and Knotts Berry Farm?!

We will have a family fun zone with rides, games, face painting and a kids craft area where you paint your own Oktoberfest ceramic piece to take home plus much more. We have four stages of live entertainment that includes the German-American Brass Band, the D’Oberlanders German dancers, Past Action Heroes ’80s Flashback band and Bobby and the Gypsy Boys. Come dressed in your favorite German outfit and enter one of our four contests held throughout the day: Mr. and Mrs. Oktoberfest, Lil Miss and Master and Best Dressed Dog. There is also a stein-holding contest.

CBS Los Angeles named our event as “the best place in Southern California to celebrate Oktoberfest for its ‘Nightlife and Music!’” This Bavarian street fair, now celebrating its 40th year, hosted by the Montrose-Verdugo City Chamber of Commerce, runs from noon until 11 p.m. along the 2200, 2300 and 2400 blocks of Honolulu Avenue in Montrose. Admission is free.

You can find out all about what is happening at this event by logging onto www.montroseoktoberfest.com.

We have another anniversary in August at our August Anniversary Business Mixer. Here we will be celebrating businesses that are celebrating an anniversary with us. Whether it’s five, 10, 15, 20, 25 years or more, we want to celebrate it! We are here to promote the business and commerce in the Montrose-Verdugo City area and the support of our business members makes that possible. Along with the celebration we are running a summer special and entrance is only $1 for all you can eat and drink. We hope you will join us. The mixer is on Wednesday, Aug. 2 at Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Montrose. It’s going to be a good one!

Montrose-Verdugo City Chamber of Commerce: Your source for all things local! Our mission is to actively support and enrich the community, vitality and pride of Montrose, to help preserve the historic district and small town atmosphere, to promote economic stability and positive, productive relationships within Montrose and the surrounding communities.

Upcoming events

August anniversary business mixer on Wednesday, Aug. 2 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Arthur Murray Dance Studio Montrose, 2260 Honolulu Ave., Montrose.

40th anniversary Oktoberfest on Saturday, Oct. 7 from noon to 11 p.m. in the 2200, 2300 and 2400 blocks of Honolulu Avenue. Admission is free.

  melinda clarke