Montrose Oktoberfest

Charging for wristbands? Really? Being a 4^th generation resident, it saddens me to see the city of Glendale nickel and dime the loyal patrons of the valley. Good luck next year!

I normally love local events like this but the Montrose Chamber of Commerce has really lost their way with Oktoberfest. The low-​lights were:
— A purchase system designed by someone nostalgic for the old Soviet Union. First you line up to buy your tickets, then you line up to get your ID checked, then you line up to buy your food and drink… at different places.
— Prices: translating tickets to dollars and your first beer is $ 12.50 including the fee for checking your ID. The good news is that your second beer is only $ 10 !
— Minimum purchase: you can only buy tickets in blocks of $ 25 so forget it if you want one last pretzel for the road.
— Organization: today is the day after and the entertainment schedule on their website still has «coming soon».
— The evening, at least, is not remotely like Oktoberfest! The holiday represents culture and community — people sitting together and having a drink and a bite to eat. Tables and chairs, if there were any, were swept out of view, replaced by people wandering around trying to find a spot to stand to eat and drink and talk.
It was not a total bust. It was well-​policed and there were families with kids around well into the evening. The 80s cover band was also fun, although not remotely German (see above).
Since the Chamber realized one of their own had had his hands in the till for years I wonder if Oktoberfest is a sign they are determined to claw back the money, even at the expense of community. I look forward to paying to watch the Christmas parade :)

Wow. I can’t believe how bad this Octoberfest was. We were so excited and ready for a good time. It was more of a kiddie carnival. Kids rides mixed in with beer and sausage booths.
FIRST~ you have to stand in a line to get your wristband if you want to buy a beer. Oh yeah, and that costs a dollar!
NEXT ~ you need to stand in a large crowd for about a half hour to purchase either $ 25 or $ 50 worth of tickets. (So don’t plan on buying just a beer or just a pretzel.)
THEN ~ you need to stand in another line to get what you want!!!
They only had 3 booths and they were swamped!!!
That’s a LOT of time standing in line. And you will have tickets left over. You could get 2 sausage sandwiches and one beer to split with your spouse. So if they want their own beer you need to buy the $ 50 worth of tickets!!!
We asked the information booth where to start to get the tickets without standing in a long line and they said we were better off going to one of the restaurants! So we did. Much better deal but nowhere to sit.
There wasn’t anything German to see
Really. There were 3 stages. One with German music which wasn’t playing at the time. Another was rock which had a happy crowd of teens and the 3^rd stage had a Mariachi band playing!!! What the !!!
I overheard several people making comments about that one.
We were VERY disapointed. Very costly. Very crowded. Very unGerman.

Sigh. Rest in Peace Oktoberfest! I can take the price gouging (they now make you pay a dollar just to have your ID checked) or the incredible crowds (they put no age restriction. No matter what time it is). But to pay $ 25 for two hotdogs and $ 10 for a beer just so I can sit and listen to. Mariachi music in a filth ridden event where the bathrooms don’t even have water to wash up afterwards is just to much. I have been attending this event for the better part of a decade and I think this is the last time. They have turned a fun family event into a cheep street fair. I didn’t see anything that remotely resembled an authentic display of German heritage. Just anther sad attempt for the city to make money off its residents. ⁰⁄₁₀

So last year was awful. I decided to go again and see if someone, anyone would have read last years review and taken steps to make this better. No you dumb organizers, you somehow managed to screw this up even worse. So many people you can’t enjoy yourself. The line to get tickets was at least 60 deep. So let me tell you how the shake down works. They only have 3 ticket booths set up and the lines are insane at each one. You can’t buy single tickets there’s a $ 25 minimum. Oh you can go $ 50 next level up. So you ask yourself, do I buy extra tickets so I don’t have to wait in another line again later? Sure why not? Stop don’t do it. This is were these clever con artists make you depart with your hard earned money. The beer sales end at 10 and you could end up with extra tickets and no beer. Utter nonsense. I love the bowling alley was selling their own brat dinners for less $ 5 and 18 ounce Spaten for $ 7. Way to go for free enterprise. When someone told me its $ 1 to get the wrist band to drink, I was like are you f-​en joking? It wasn’t the dollar, it was the idea that made me sick. That they think people are stupid. I said no. Not me, not today. They lost money on me because of their foolish arrogance. Don’t waste your time or energy on this pathetic event. They had the same lame ass gypsy kings knock off band playing Spanish music again. The 80’s band was the only stand out that was rocking the place. To the organizers that put this event together: one word for all of you; RESIGN ! Why? Because you suck at your positions. It’s the right thing to do! I heard comments from people at the event and many echoed my exact sentiments memorialized here. I’m done with you octoberfest, it wasn’t me, it was just all you.

A Montrose classic! You get to reconnect with old friends, drink beer on the street (who doesn’t love that?!), great food, fun music, games and fun for everyone. Bring the kids in the afternoon for the rides and games!

The Becks Oktoberfest Beer is Really Great, but they could do more diversity with the beer, It has steadily gotten less and less diverse over the years, now we are down to various Budwiser brands… Yuck! The bands are always great to hear!

It’s not just about the beer. Though many associate Oktoberfest with beer. It’s about people from all walks of life, coming together and just having a good time; in fact, the beer selection was pretty slim.
From my perspective, being a first time goer to this annual event in Montrose, the event was organized, staffed properly and definitely both family and dog friendly. I enjoyed the smaller scale Oktoberfest festival as it was pretty mellow and relaxing.

I’m a quarter German, so this hokey stuff pulls on my heart strings.
The fact that I could walk around Glendale City streets in front of Glendale P.D. with beer in hand was a win win.
The crowd was pretty eclectic and dog friendly which was nice. Apparently, they had a costume contest for dogs. My sister’s dog might have won that costume contest. Unfortunately, Daisy lives on the Big Island. Hopefully, I’ll have an adopted dog to take next year.
Go, drink some beer, go on some rides, listen to some live music, play bingo, knock someone into the dunk tank, eat some food, and have your DD on hand to drive you home.
Note: I’ve been house sitting for a friend right in the heart of Montrose and I have to say I am so disappointed in the fact that I found several areas in her yard where people did not pick up after their dogs the morning after Oktoberfest. That is so inconsiderate to others and I can see why dogs end up getting banned from events. I love dogs, but if I had one I would use my brain and clean up after it.

This event has never disappointed me. True, there isn’t a lot of variety in the beers which can be easily solved. There are a few bars on that street that DO have variety. Just Unilocal it. The brats are good, the beer is ok and the bingo is fun. Bingo isn’t always for old ladies! Average pot is around 15 – 30 bux! And it goes to charity. No admission fee BUT I feel like the food prices are a bit high so it makes up for it.

I can’t leave less than 4 stars because I realize I am privileged to have a fun event like this in the area to help ring in the fall!
However, this event could be be SOO much better and make so much more money if they brought it in more beer actually from Germany instead of Bud Light. Hipsters would eat this event up.

This Oktoberfest does get a bad rap from some of the Unilocalers below, but it’s not warranted.
The event is family friendly without losing it’s Oktoberfest bite. I can take my boys (10 & 12) through the event and not worry about their safety or them seeing something inappropriate. Still, you see PLENTY of people drinking it up, having a blast, and enjoying the atmosphere.
The earlier part of the day seem to lean more towards families, but after 5PM, it’s in full swing for the adults! Even then, it’s still safe for kids and teens. Lots of games and rides for everyone to enjoy – , music too.
German dinner’s, bratwurst sandwiches, 1 pound turkey legs – ALL provided by Schreiner’s Fine Sausages. They keep it local!
. Pretzels and the strudels are made by Montrose Bakery, another local business! Try the cherry strudel, it’s delicious, but sells out fast! :’(.
About the beer: Yes, you can get Becks and Widmer at the store, but you can get ANY imported beers at most store these days. It’s not a big deal to me because the beer they have on tap here are delicious with the food served.
Still, I spoke to the Executive Director of the event and inquired about bringing more imported German varieties, but when she explained the end cost and having only a handful of distributors she’s allowed to work with, I got the point. Apparently, the beer industry is rather complicated when it comes to distribution: you can’t shop around for better prices and you’re essentially assigned the people you have to purchase beer from (depending on the area you live in)
She also noted that many other Oktoberfests are NOT open events, but are «pay to enter» to cover cost of more expensive imported beer and to keep kids out. The people that put on the Montrose Oktoberfest are bent on keeping it open without a cover charge and I really appreciate that. That means that purchasing anything is pretty much optional. The entertainment is free, the contests are free, the music is free and there is no cover charge.
One thing that did move me about the event is that they do what many of the restaurants in the area do: What ever food is left over from Oktoberfest is donated to food banks. For an Oktoberfest event, that’s pretty sweet.

Ouch, reading through the reviews… this Oktoberfest gets a bad rap. Let’s get real here for a second… This is a fundraising event and probably the only Oktoberfest in the area. I actually really liked it, and had fun with it. I dressed up in a little lederhosen, got my stein out and sang Edelweiss (which is actually Austrian, but whatever).
Yes, the beer is $ 8 (that did kind of suck) but I thought the food was pretty good. It was actually from Schreiner’s down the street, which is a solid German restaurant/​store.
We walked around a bit and had a couple decent brews. I will continue to go back, mostly because we can walk there and not worry about driving.
Prost!

What a joke. I don’t even know why they call this Oktoberfest. The name should be changed to «Giant Rip-​Off Street Fair.» The special German beers are $ 8. And it’s a Becks. BECKS! I could get that at the Vons down the street.
Basically, it’s free so I don’t know what I was expecting.

What a joke and insult to Germany. Would have been nice if there really was an Oktoberfest instead of a street fair. Beer was Widmer, Coors, Heineken, and Budweiser. Sure they are German recipes but not German beers. Bratwurst and hotdogs were terrible and expensive! Where was the German theme? County music and Red Hot Chili Peppers are not German music. I want to hear Om Pa Pa. Where was the German entertainment? What a huge disappointment. I will never attend this again and I will spread the word. I want my $ 75.00 back. What a ripoff.

#200^th Review… and still going!
It has been well over 10 years since I’ve been to this Oktoberfest. Work, school, etc… Things that always get in the way of life prevented me from going. I was in college at the time and «oh so poor», so my friends and I would get beer from 7 Eleven and walk around with it in a super gulp cup. I remembered having a lot of fun, getting drunk and meeting up with old high school friends.
This time was definitely different. In the blistering heat and «German» beers costing $ 8, I was done drinking their beer. My cheap ass couldn’t take it. We did get to ride on the ferris wheel drunk and I did beat a little kid in an game and won a plush toy!
It just wasn’t the same excitement as it was back then. Maybe because we went during the day, but I think its more fun for families and 21 year-​olds.
BTW.The toy i won was a mini Schnauzer plush toy. That little kid didn’t have a chance. I beat him so bad! Haha

Don’t come here expecting to be overwhelmed by German culture or amazing beer. Also do not expect Das Boot or amazing food.
DO expect a street carnival, mediocre bratwurst on a cold but with mushy sauerkraut and French’s yellow mustard, hoards of people, bingo, a bit of Polka music and tons of cops standing around watching you like a flock of vultures.
We got there at 7:30 and we were bored by about 9:45. There’s not much to do or see. Despite my blah opinion of the whole experience, I still go. I still enjoy it for the first hour I’m there. After that, I’m ready to head to a bar.

Having done this in Germany for sure did not go with expectations.
It was more like a street carnival with cheap beer for daddy to drink while pushing the baby cart around. I guess if I had a little one it would have been good for them. But realy not much to go.
Got 20 tickets for $ 40.
That would have equaled 5 beers at 4 tix each.
So $ 8 a beer. Mind you it was generic Widmer Hef that was the best
they had.
Didnt bother with any of the food, made are way to Joselito’s for Mexican at Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest! Lots of good food, beer and German themed entertainment. Bring your stein hefting muscles.