Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

They did the chicken dance. They did the Schuhplattler. They jumped up and down to “Sweet Caroline.” It might not be a traditional Bavarian celebration, but Oktoberfest in Leavenworth is the very best the Pacific Northwest has to offer.

Friday night opened the second of three weeks of festivities at Leavenworth Oktoberfest, an event that organizers say attracts more than 10,000 people each year. It's a big draw for the little mountain town, but one that fits naturally into its Bavarian aesthetic.

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit

Leavenworth started as a timber, fur and gold town back in the 19th century, but within a few decades the railroad diverted away from town, leaving locals struggling to find a way to stay afloat. In the early 1960s, city leaders made a bold decision: go all-in on a Bavarian theme to attract tourists.

It worked. Now, every building in town has that south-German look, from the breweries and sausage joints to the local McDonald’s. At the center is the towering community Festhalle, which hosts the town’s several seasonal celebrations.

Leavenworth has long held Christmas events, but it didn’t celebrate Oktoberfest until 1998, when the event attracted 400 people. The event grew quickly from there, riding the wave of beer festivals that have since permeated the Pacific Northwest. But while it seems like every regional city now has an Oktoberfest, none hold a candle to the big event in central Washington’s own Little Bavaria.

Thousands filed through the gates on Friday night, many dressed in lederhosen and dirndls – the women wearing braids, the men in felt hats stuck with pins. They crowded the three big tents and the Festhalle itself, gray-haired couples and groups of young friends, all drinking merrily from decorative steins and plastic cups, while the whine of accordion and oompah of tuba poured into the night.

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit

Leavenworth has three local breweries in town, but most of the taps at Oktoberfest offered German beer by Hofbrau and Spaten. Beer was $7 and bratwurst was $6, both pretty reasonable prices for a big festival, and ones that kept the crowd drinking and eating their fill as a cold chill fell over the mountain town.

Vendors sold steins and hats to those who had none, alongside crafts and boxes of cigars. People posed for photos in front of the big “Willkommen to Leavenworth Oktoberfest” sign and sat on benches at long tables, laughing and drinking and occasionally stepping up to the dance floor.

Night fell and the stars came out, while the crowd maintained that Oktoberfest glow. A few drinks in, nobody could quite get the Schuhplattler down. But when one of the bands played “Sweet Caroline” for a second time, everyone jumped up and down and sang along. It might not have been Bavarian, but for the Pacific Northwest’s own Oktoberfest celebration, it was just right.

Leavenworth Oktoberfest runs one more weekend in 2018, on Oct. 19 and 20. Tickets are $10, buy online at leavenworthoktoberfest.com or at the gate.



--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit

Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Don't Edit