Fremont Oktoberfest

One of my favourite festivals so far. Got a great deal for the online price of $ 30. We each received 10 tasting tokens plus, using a promo code, got 2 extra tastings each! Hope the event grows more each year, seems very popular and a fun time for all.

This festival had pretty much nothing to do with Germany or any kind of traditional Oktoberfest. It was over-​priced, lacking German beers, and even the .5L «stein» you could fill (for $ 25!) could only be filled with Sam Adams or a domestic cider.
You could literally get any of the beers from this festival at any bar in the area. And a county fair style stand with generic bratwurst was the only faire offered.
I’ve been to better Oktoberfests (hello, Leavenworth!) and I’ve also been to many MUCH better beer festivals in general. This thing is having a bit of an identity crisis and it doesn’t fit into beer fest or Oktoberfest very well.

I must say that the people made this event great. Even drunk on beer the majority of the attendees were friendly and fun. Quite a few dressed in German garb too.
As for the event itself; this was simply an overcrowded and poorly laid out event. The group that I attended with as well as others that I encountered left with tokens in their pockets because the lines were far too long and the placement of the beer tents very inconvenient. To go anywhere inside the event grounds you would have to intersect the beer sample lines as the traffic ran perpendicular to the lines. It was very difficult to get to the ‘beer tent’ or food venue that you wanted to sample from and then when you were in line you had people trying to cut in because there were gaps in the line to let the traffic of festival goers through. I don’t believe that a large venue would solve the problem with the long lines either as it was far too many people for the number of beer vendors available in the 4 crowded tents.
For the cost of entry combined with the poorly organized event I will not return. There are far better beer events to attend.

Fremont Oktoberfest is decent, but be prepared for insane crowds of intoxicated people and long lines for small samples of beer. Can’t count the number of people we saw trying to shove themselves into the middle of lines. Won’t even go into the massive groups of people just standing in walkways causing you to Bob and weave through the crowd just to try and get a few tents down.
One really great thing is that you can volunteer at this event for a few hours and get free admission afterwards on a day you choose. Since it is a little pricy for what you get, this is definitely the way to go in my opinion. Easy way to spend a few hours then come back (or stay) for some free beer for your service.

If your idea of Oktoberfest is lines to fill a 5 oz plastic cup, bands that make autotune sound worse than it is on the radio, grilled cheese sandwiches, and pacing up and down two back streets looking for a place away from the crowds that make you want to punch puppies, THIS is the place for you.
Me? I’m holding out for communal tables, oompah bands, and beer you actually want to drink out of glass liters… not IPAs and ciders. You know, a carnival atmosphere with so much fun you want to HUG puppies, versus the daylight version of Ballard-​after-​dark with an Oktoberfest sign at the entrance this thing is.
P. S. — Shout out to the girl wearing a sexy police Halloween costume. Because I totally got it, even if no one else did. (You lost a bet to your boyfriend, right? Right??)

This event, and the event planners, suck. Overcrowded, too expensive. I hate myself for going again this year. I hate the event planners for making me hate myself.
I live just a couple blocks away from where they hold Oktoberfest here in Fremont and have gone a few different years now. Each time, I leave relatively pissed because the event has so much potential to be awesome and they’ve just ruined it with the direction they’ve decided to take; that is, by making it a beer sampling event all about making money and not about creating a festive, fun experience.
To ensure my memories don’t fade about its suckiness (and somehow get sucked in to going again next year) I am writing this review to remind myself of how crappy it is.
Why it sucks:
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#1
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It’s stupid expensive! $ 40 for 50oz of beer (10 x 5oz refills). That’s $ 40 for just 3.125 US pints (or 2.6 UK pints for you Brits) Give me a break! For a good cause? Then have the brewers pay a flat fee to set up a stand, allow them to only charge $ 6 for a half liter, with %20 profit going to your «charity». Charities get their money, the event has enough cash to run things, brewers get the advertising exposure while also making a profit off the tons of customers flowing through.
For $%#s and giggles, let us compare this to the real Oktoberfest in Germany, where prices have been raised in 2014 to be around 10 Euros a liter. Do the math:
10 Euro = $ 12.83. $ 40/​$ 12.83 = 3.118 Liters which would give you a total of about 105oz for the same price as the Fremont «festival»
So basically Fremont charges about twice as much without providing tables to sit at, a Bavarian waitress to keep your glass filled, nor a tent to cover your head in case it should rain. With all the breweries in the Northwest, you can’t make the argument that the cheaper cost in Germany is a product of oversupply.

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#2
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Those little glasses are stupid. They don’t scale for the number of people let in. Before I left last night I did one last walk around the area. I was struck by the fact that it was basically crowds all standing in line. The line at each food stand was huge; the line for beer was long. And in between these huge lines were gaps of nothingness. Nobody was actually standing around, singing, or talking while NOT in line. So basically you’re paying $ 40 to stand in line. Ugh, it makes me so angry!
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#2.3
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The little sampling glasses make it basically the exact same thing as the Hop Scotch Festival held in April at Fremont Studio… at the exact same location. I mean, seriously, it’s the exact same $%^#ing thing! Actually Hop Scotch is better as the lines aren’t nearly as long and you can get a sample refill within seconds to a minute. Now I’m even angrier! Uaarrgh!

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To conclude
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A word to the people who gave good reviews: If you give a good review to an event with the caveat: «show up early and get there before 3pm», then YOU don’t get it. It means the event, and event planners, suck. If you’re having a festival and you can’t make it enjoyable with large crowds on a Saturday evening, it means your event gets a failing grade. The beer should flow easily, as it does in Munich… once you finally get a seat :)
Right now I hate the world, and it’s because of the stupid event planners which turned an awesome concept like Oktoberfest and made it completely lame.

This was my first time at Fremont Oktoberfest and overall it was a pretty good experience. I agree with the previous comments that for $ 30 + tax, the price is a little steep, but you are donating to a good cause (Fremont Chamber of Commerce and the local schools, art groups, community events, etc.) so just suck it up and drink up.
In terms of the beer tasting, there was a very large variety of beers (40+ or more) to sample. Most of them originate from WA or OR breweries, but there were a few from CA and Germany as well. Hard cider was also available and came in some pretty good flavors (I tried the hard oak one from Schilling’s Cider).
Coming on a Friday evening was enjoyable since it wasn’t too crowded and it was fairly easy to get a drink without having to wait in line for more than a few minutes at the most. The only thing I wasn’t prepared for (coming from California), was the onset of «chilly» weather. I was in shorts and a light shirt and started freezing after drinking a few cold beers and walking against the wind. For $ 34.35 total, the total amount of beer you receive (5 oz x 10 = 50 oz = 1478.5 mL) isn’t exactly cheap, but I thought 10 drink tokens was plenty enough to sample what I wanted.
The one negative comment I have is regarding some of the beer varieties. Blue Moon and Sam Adams? I can understand sponsorship, but really? You can definitely get those two anywhere around the country and they should not have made their way into Fremont Oktoberfest.

I definitely had a good time at Oktoberfest. It’s pretty expensive, but when I got 10 5 0z. pour tokens for I think $ 30 at the door, I was disheartened. «I’m never gonna catch a buzz of this» I thought to myself.
I was wrong. I left edging on preeetty drunk.
I did end up buying like ten more tokens though, haha.
The beers were good. There was a decent line of vendors but I was hoping to see a few more. Also I’m a malty girl and there was a flooding of very hoppy beers. I’m down with the hops but would have liked to see a little more diversity among selection.
The best beer I tried was this raspberry beer. hooooly balls it was ridiculous.
I would recommend people check it out, especially over trekking to Leavenworth’s, which really underwhelmed me. I had higher expectations considering the hype.

LAME, Dont go. Expensive and feels like a carnival not Okoberfest

Overall, I had a really fun weekend at Oktoberfest. My friends and I volunteered on Friday night, drank on Friday night, and returned on Saturday to drink again. There were a lot of fun people, live music, and booths to stop by. Especially because the proceeds go to the Chamber of Commerce, I didn’t have a problem with the price. I would rather spend money and support the local community than waste it away at the same bars as usual.
I was slightly disappointed with the beer selection– with so many local breweries in the pacific northwest, I would have hoped for more local options or more German options… There were a lot of generic beers that are not fun or unusual or unique (which are usually the reasons I go to beer festivals). The beer graden had a very weird/​limited selection to chose from– blue moon, angry orchard (it’s not even beer…), or sam adams oktoberfest. I think this was the most disappointing aspect of the weekend. My last complaint is that you cannot re-​enter. I live a few blocks away and would have really liked to be able to leave and come back later at night.
All of that being said, I would definitely come again and hope they make some minor adjustments that various people have suggested to make it even better!

The Fremont neighborhood is full of fun adventuresome people, so a festival here is bound to be fun. As for the beer, there was a wide selection of novelty beers and exotic flavors, as well as the typical oktoberfest brews, but I was disappointed with the prevalence of national/​regional breweries. Why aren’t more local breweries represented, Fremont? Regardless of where they came from, there were plenty of tasty beers, I can confirm that.
For the entertainment, there was a main stage with big music which was fun, but lame. The two bands we heard were a Prince cover band followed by an AC/​DC cover band… fine music for karaōke bars and wedding receptions, but where’s the oompa loompa German polka music, Fremont?
Hopefully the Fremont brewmeister is reading this and books some traditional German music for next year!

We went when they first opened on Sunday and this year they were out of a lot of beer already. Then 3 hours into the event they ran out of all the German beer!
I went on Sunday since it was the only day we could go, and last year they didn’t start running out of beers that soon! Next year we might skip it such a disappointment.
Also tasting tokens are expensive $ 2 per taste!

What I love:
–BEER! Any event that centers around drinking beer is a-​okay in my book.
–The people-​watching. Lederhosen, crazy dancing people, and drunkards. What more could you want?!
–Curly fries. Giant, huge, tasty blocks of curly fries.
–The past few years it’s been great weather on Oktoberfest weekend. It’s the perfect beginning-​of-​fall activity.
What I don’t love:
–The parking situation. There isn’t one. Take a cab or a bus because you will not find a place to park.
–The crowd. While I love people watching, I don’t love standing in long lines and fearing for my life (death by trampling!) because there are too many people.
–I don’t like dark beer very much and I REALLY don’t like IPAs, but I feel like that’s what most of the beer choices were. I go to Oktoberfest for the whole experience so I can suck it up, but I’d love some lighter beer choices. I’d also love some more unknown beers — so much Blue Moon and Sam Adams and things I can get in the grocery store.
It’s $ 25 for five tokens. This year I found a deal that enabled me to get seven tokens for $ 25, which made my day. $ 25 isn’t the cheapest thing ever, but if you plan on spending a whole evening/​night out at Oktoberfest, I’d say it’s worth it.

This is more of a 3.5 star event, but i’ll round things up!
I have come here 2 years in a row now and I have to say — while Fremont’s Oktoberfest is not perfect, the most fun, the least crowded, or has the most interesting choices in beer — you will have a pretty damn good time if you plan out what you want to do beforehand.
I don’t like waiting 30 minutes for a 4 oz sample of beer — so I get there early. Like, right when they open-​early. This year this allowed my group to find a lovely table in the shade and by the river. I was also able to have 15 samples of beer before 3pm when the crowds started getting fuller and crazier. But if you like bumping elbows with the unwashed masses? Meeting new and inebriated folks? Go later.
Macrobrews and Microbrews abound… and my favorite of them all Deschutes was there. Last year they offered samples of my favoritest beer the Abyss, and this year they had their anniversary Black Butte paired with Theo chocolate and some lighter beer with Beecher’s cheese. All for free! In all honestly I probably only ~really~ disliked maybe one of the beers I tried. I got to paint oranges for Blue Moon’s communal art project, take horrifying pictures in a ledherhosen cut-​out, see a man carve pumpkins with a chainsaw, see Sailor Munich on stage, and get all sorts of drunk and goofy with friends. A good time by all means! Not to mention the $ you drop to get in all goes to benefit the community.

So, like any event of this nature… a little planning goes a long way.
I am really surprised at all the bad reviews. I am guessing those people showed up at 7 pm on Saturday and expected to just have beer handed to them on a golden platter.
Yes, $ 25 is a lot of money, but you have to realize that there is a lot of cost and planning that goes into an event like this. Also, the event supports local schools, arts groups and community events in the neighborhood. So honestly, for 50 oz of more than 80 beer choices, $ 25 isn’t bad. Plus, if you plan ahead, you can get more free beer. I found a code for 2 free tokens, I signed up for a mailing list for another token, and I went to Deschutes and got 2 free tastings paired with chocolate and cheese. So in the end, I had 75 oz of beer, and was drunk. How often can you say that on a Friday night after a night of bar hopping?
We showed up before 11 am, so we were the first in line. We grabbed a table that we saved throughout the 5 hours that we were there. We all got to try 15 different beers. Why is this so bad?
Show up early. Believe me, you will thank me later. After 3 pm it is super crowded, and full of douche-​bags. If you want to go to socialize, and like waiting in line, sure, go ahead and go at 7 pm on Saturday. But if you are interested in enjoying a variety of beers with some good friends, go early.
The weather was fantastic, the friends were even more amazing, and I loved getting to try a ton of beer. I would definitely go again.
PS this is not a kid friendly event. Please don’t try and bring your kids. The tasting garden is 21+ only (obviously) and once you enter the event, you can’t leave.
PLAN AHEAD!

Really, the only reason to attend Fremont’s Oktoberfest is to drink with friends, drink with strangers, and people watch.
PROS:
1. Lots of beer options
2. Great location, right in the heart of Fremont, along the ship canal
CONS:
1. Over-​priced. $ 20 for 5 five-​ounce servings of beer. $ 15 for regular admission if you’re NOT drinking.
2. Cash only
3. Hella crowded
4. They advertised several beers that they apparently never had to begin with (they were «out» of two ciders, the lemongrass wheat beer, among others)
I’d come again just to hang with my friends. I don’t really drink beer and ended up giving my tokens away. It was still a fun time, though.

Sure there are idiot frat guys being stupid, ridiculously long lines for beer, crappy music, tiny plastic cups, and slutty girls in leiderhosen but that’s the whole point of Oktoberfest! It’s $ 20 for 5 tokens for mediocre beer but you know what? It’s an experience.
We arrived at around 8 pm and it was already crowded and people were already plastered. With 5 tokens to use, we went from tent to tent trying to get our pitifully small cup of beer. My favorites were the Blue Moon pumpkin ale and the apple cider. The others were too «hoppy,» syrupy, or molassy.
So far, I haven’t said much positive but I totally had a blast. The people watching was incredible, the curly fries were perfect beer pairing food, and it was great to see friends.
I’d recommend taking a taxi if you can because there was NO parking and we had to drive around for forever to find a spot.

I’d never been to an Oktoberfest before and this was a fun way to spend an afternoon. It was also damned expensive — $ 25 bought a total of 25 ounces of beer. Admission alone was $ 15 and $ 25 got a ticket, a tasting mug, and five tasting tokens. Amazingly, the tokens inside were going at six for $ 10, meaning that you could get an extra drink just by buying naked admission and getting your tokens inside. I pointed this out to the staff inside, hoping they would recognize the idiocy in this system and hand me an extra token, but I don’t think they even understood my gripe.
Other than getting gouged, though, Oktoberfest was a fun experience. On an elementary level, I liked the cute wooden tokens and swapping them for different beers. There were lines everywhere, but they went quickly. The number and variety of breweries on site was really impressive, and by sharing with Michael K. I was able to try around ten beers. There wasn’t a lackluster one in the bunch. There was also a lot of food available — I passed, but some of it looked pretty good.
There were plenty of interesting characters around, including a woman in a bunny suit, a man dressed in head to toe purple sequins, and perhaps most interesting of all, a middle-​aged Asian woman who could’ve been my aunt. I was with a group of five and we all drank slowly and I left with a mild buzz. I realize that for $ 25 I could’ve had three times the beer elsewhere, but I had a good time at the Fremont Oktoberfest and don’t regret stopping in.

Beer. Beer. And MORE beer! Need I say more?
Oh yeah. sexy lederhosen, live music, local businesses, great food, contests, and BEER!
Tens of thousands of people came out (including myself) and the weather was just perfect. Some vendors had games and prize money, other vendors had snacks, and the selection of beer was pretty great.
My only suggestion? Come early. Crowds are smaller and a little more serious. Later in the evening and into the night you’ll get a younger demographic of people who’ve had a bit much to drink. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s Oktoberfest!

The most shameful money making enterprise in Seattle.
Nothing remotely resembling Oktoberfest. Nothing German about it.
Just a bunch of greedy bastards charging $ 25 for very little beer.
Unless you get there right at opening– plan on waiting in endless lines all night for your 5oz of beer.
Restrooms were a disaster. People openly throwing up everywhere. Cops didn’t care at all.
NEVER AGAIN.