One of North Alabama’s biggest fall traditions is getting even bigger this year, with Cullman Oktoberfest expanding to four days of German food, music and festivities in the heart of downtown.
The 44th annual Cullman Oktoberfest returns Oct. 1-4, with Sunday activities added to the schedule for the first time. Admission to the festival is free.
The celebration draws on Cullman’s German heritage, which stretches back to the city’s founding by Col. Johann Gottfried Cullmann in 1873.
Festivities begin at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, followed by opening ceremonies and the traditional tapping of the keg at 6 p.m. The celebration continues through Sunday evening, when the Hofbräuhaus Biergarten closes at 8 p.m.
Throughout the weekend, downtown Cullman will fill with live German music, biergartens, artisan vendors, food, games and activities for children and pets. Traditional Oktoberfest competitions include brat-eating and costume contests, along with a stein-hoisting competition for participants 21 and older.
Visitors can also take walking tours exploring Cullman’s German history and try their hand at glass blowing workshops.
Friday brings Senior Day for visitors 55 and older from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., while runners take over downtown Saturday morning for the annual Oktoberfest 5K and 10K beginning at 8 a.m.
A taste of Munich in Cullman
The Hofbräuhaus Experience returns as one of the festival’s centerpieces, recreating a Munich-style biergarten under a covered pavilion with Hofbräu München beer, Bavarian-style servers and continuous entertainment.
Admission to the Hofbräuhaus is included with the purchase of a Hofbräu stein, or visitors can pay a $10 daily cover. A four-day Ultimate Hofbräuhaus Experience package will also be available with commemorative steins, food and drink tokens and weekend access.
Cullman’s own breweries will have a prominent place in the festivities. Goat Island Brewing and Ethos Craft Brewing will share a large covered biergarten featuring local craft beer and live entertainment. Unlike the Hofbräuhaus, that biergarten is free to enter.
The Weihenstephan Biergarten will offer selections from the historic German brewery, while Bitburger joins the festival this year as a new featured German beer.
Music, rides and a really big Ferris wheel
Two Oktoberfest acts will help provide the soundtrack for the four-day celebration.
International entertainer Manuela Horn & The Brew Crew will bring a mix of Bavarian music, comedy and audience participation, while The Bräts will perform their high-energy combination of traditional polkas and familiar songs given an Oktoberfest twist.
Families will also find an expanded kids carnival with more rides this year. The festival’s 105-foot Ferris wheel and double-decker carousel are returning, along with the Volkswagen Car Show featuring classic VWs from across the Southeast.
The addition of Sunday gives festivalgoers an extra day to take it all in, stretching a North Alabama tradition that began more than four decades ago into a full four-day celebration of the German heritage that helped shape Cullman.
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