{"id":224552,"date":"2017-09-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/the-new-and-the-old-of-la-mesa-oktoberfest\/"},"modified":"2017-09-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-09-22T07:00:00","slug":"the-new-and-the-old-of-la-mesa-oktoberfest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/the-new-and-the-old-of-la-mesa-oktoberfest\/","title":{"rendered":"The new and the old of La Mesa Oktoberfest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por\u00a0<\/strong>Margie M. Palmer<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Oktoberfest will again see some changes now that the city of La Mesa has officially gotten out of the event-planning business.<\/p>\n

In 2016, city officials decided to take on the production of Oktoberfest when they realized that the future of the event was in jeopardy. This year, they\u2019ve passed the torch to the newly formed La Mesa Village Association (LMVA).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Mayor Mark Arapostathis (right) helps tap a keg of beer at last year\u2019s Oktoberfest. (Courtesy McFarlane Promotions)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

La Mesa Senior Management Analyst Lyn Dedmon said that up until last year, Oktoberfest had been produced by the now-defunct La Mesa Merchants Association. Locals say that prior to the LMMA\u2019s dissolvement, the overall quality of Oktoberfest had begun to go downhill.<\/p>\n

City officials said they felt it was important to both keep the event going and to reverse its downward trend.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
(Photo courtesy of McFarlane Promotions)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe city took over management of Oktoberfest last year because we realized that once an event like this stops, even for a year or two, it\u2019s hard to get going again,\u201d Dedmon said. \u201cBut now, the city has passed off management to the La Mesa Village Association (LMVA) after they put in a request to take over management of Oktoberfest. This year, the city has gone back to its original role, which is to process permits, public works and police safety at the event.\u201d<\/p>\n

And despite being happy to have passed the torch, Dedmon said the city feels that last year\u2019s event went very well.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
(Photo courtesy of McFarlane Promotions)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe received a lot of feedback on our website and we received verbal feedback at the City Council meeting afterward. It was overwhelmingly good and we heard a lot of good things about the entertainment lineup,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did receive some complaints as well, which mainly focused on the food options not being authentic and not having enough places to sit down in the heat, but for the most part the responses were overwhelmingly positive and we felt like we got the arrow pointing back up again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
(Photo courtesy of McFarlane Promotions)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LMVA Chairman Aaron Dean said the association took all of that feedback into consideration; they also hired San Diego event coordinator and planner McFarlane Promotions to help build upon what the city did last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to make sure that Oktoberfest moved in the direction the community was asking for. We wanted to make it a lot more family friendly and this year, we\u2019ll have two kids areas and a Ferris wheel. We also wanted to make the entertainment and music more approachable for families,\u201d Dean said. \u201cThe second part of what we looked at was the vendors. In the past, the majority were corporate and not crafts or artists. This year, we\u2019re trying to make the transition into having a lot more craft and local vendors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
(Photo courtesy of McFarlane Promotions)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

McFarlane Promotions self-proclaimed \u201cEvent Jedi\u201d Camille Riley said McFarlane is committed to bringing Oktoberfest back to the way people saw it before.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of us at McFarlane had gone to this when we were kids and we continued to go as adults, and we really want to bring it back to where it used to be. We wanted to incorporate more arts and crafts and family things while also bringing in new elements, like a German car show,\u201d she said. \u201cThere will also be a lot of hands-on workshops because we wanted to make the event more interactive. We\u2019re also bringing in a craft-spirit garden, so while we\u2019re trying to bring Oktoberfest back to what it was in the past, we\u2019re also trying to make it more modern.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
(Photo courtesy of McFarlane Promotions)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last year\u2019s seating concerns are also being addressed, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working with Rafael\u2019s Party Rental to address a lot of those concerns. We\u2019ve ordered more seating and more types of seating,\u201d Riley said. \u201cOne of the problems last year was that you could order food but you had no place to sit and enjoy it, so we\u2019re going to have a mix of seating that includes belly bars, picnic tables, we\u2019ll have chairs and tables sprinkled throughout the event and we\u2019ll also have a large amount of seating in the beer garden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dean said that the LMVA is excited about all the changes and that the organization looks forward to producing a successful event.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
(Photo courtesy of McFarlane Promotions)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur hope for this year is a combination of everything. We hope to have great weather, we hope the atmosphere is lively and fun and that the community feels engaged by the event and that it is something that they want to get behind, and be part of, year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2017 La Mesa Oktoberfest will take place on Friday, Sept. 29 from 4 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 30 from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; and on Sunday, Oct. 1 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit lamesaoktoberfest.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014Margie M. Palmer is a San Diego-based freelancer who has been racking up bylines in a myriad of news publications for the past decade. Reach her at margiep@alumni.pitt.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>\"The<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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