After a two-year absence, the Ocean Beach Oktoberfest is back. A scaled-down version of the Oktoberfest takes place Saturday in the parking lot of the Ocean Beach Pier at the foot of Newport Avenue.
This year’s Oktoberfest, which will serve as a fund-raiser for the community’s historic plaque project, takes place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The event will also afford an opportunity for a lucky winner to be among the first in the nation to own an innovative, fuel-efficient “Smart Car.”
The event was held previously at Dusty Rhodes Park from 2002 to 2004 and at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in 2006 and 2007.
“Del Mar wasn’t the right venue for our Oktoberfest,” said Scott Slaga, president of the Hoy Hoy Boys, which is organizing the event. “Now we think we’ve got a concept that will work in O.B.”
The O.B. Oktoberfest will start out with the “Brat Trot,” a 5-K race, at 10 a.m.
“We encourage the runners to dress up ‘Oktoberfest-esque,'” Slaga said. “Tickets for the race are $5, but include two beers.”
Live entertainment will start at 10:45 a.m. on the two stages in the “Beergarden” on Newport Avenue and along the grassy area nearby.
Visitors can enjoy an assortment of German beers and participate in different competitions like a sausage toss, bratwurst eating, stein holding and be given the chance to win a 2008 Smart Car during the sausage toss competition. Booths will offer typical German food and merchandise.
The free event benefits the Ocean Beach Community Foundation, Ocean Beach Merchants Association and the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association.
According to Denny Knox, executive director of OBMA, the association’s Design Committee came up with the idea of placing historic plaques around the community to allow visitors and residents to take self-guided tours and enhance their appreciation of the area’s history.
The effort has expanded to include the OB Historical Society and the OB Community Foundation in a three-way partnership to accomplish the task.
Knox said photographs are being researched and seven sites have been selected to begin the project, although the potential sites are not yet being released. She said plaques will be manufactured locally and some funding has already been generated by the OB Community Foundation.
The Oktoberfest itself is, of course, a community gala with all the trimmings.
Featured bands include Lady Dottie & The Diamonds, Elijah Emanuel & The Revelations, Supa Bad, Jose Sinatra & The Troy Dante Inferno, Johnny Different, Falcon Mohawk, Bad Science Fiction, and the Bavarian Beer Garden Band. Free shuttle buses will be provided from Pacific Beach to Ocean Beach and back, starting at 12:30 p.m.
For more information, call (619) 224-4906 or log on to oboktoberfest.com.