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It might have started in Germany, but Oktoberfest is now synonymous the world over with beer, lederhosen and too much bratwurst.
In fact, Oktoberfest in Canada is a pretty big deal. Locals as well as visitors on Canadian holidays and trips come out in their droves to celebrate the Bavarian festival.
If you would like to join in the fun, there are lots of places to celebrate Oktoberfest across Canada. We’ve selected the best festivals that take place each year. Prost!
Toronto Oktoberfest
Unsurprisingly Toronto plays host to a fantastic Oktoberfest. The festival is usually a two-day event that takes place in a huge tent and in an outdoor Bavarian village at Ontario Place.
Each year the festival attracts some 5,000 revellers dressed in their finest dirndls and lederhosen. The official Toronto Oktoberfest is the largest Oktoberfest in the city, and celebrates Bavarian beer, food and music.
This year the festival kicked off with the tapping of the keg before a day of carnival at the Volksfest. Dance, strongman and best dressed contests crowned the most Bavarian party-goers.
The Braid Bar is where visitors can get the perfect Oktoberfest pigtails, and the most competitive can enter a barrel rolling competition.
Oktoberfest is famed for its beer, but foodies from around the world love the festival too. You can try traditional Bavarian foods such as Weisswurst and Schnitzel, as well as all kinds of pretzels.
Date of festival: Usually takes place at the end of September and start of October
Edmonton Oktoberfest
If you are in Alberta for the next Edmonton Oktoberfest then make sure you pop in and visit it.
This festival doesn’t just celebrate authentic Bavarian breweries, but also puts the spotlight on Edmonton’s other local breweries and its top restaurants.
Visitors can taste local craft beer produced in the city and are fed by Edmonton’s top restaurants, which whip up traditional Bavarian meals alongside iconic Edmonton dishes. But like all the best Oktoberfest events there is music, dancers and games for all to enjoy at the Expo Centre at Northlands.
In previous years, more than 400 different types of beer were available on site. So get sampling to increase your beer knowledge!
Date of festival: Usually takes place at the end of September and start of October.
Oktoberfest Ottawa
The Oktoberfest Ottawa differs from other Oktoberfest events in Canada as it is a hugely popular music festival.
Based at the Clarke Fields Park in Barrhaven Ontario, the 2016 festival welcomed Schteev und die Lederhosers, Ottawa’s most popular Oompah band. Their performances are legendary for their authentic Bavarian music, instrumentation and popular Oktoberfest songs.
Added to the line-up were the popular Lemon Cash, a five-piece indie rock fusion band from Ottawa.
Alongside the great music, this year there were seven craft breweries inside the Myers Volkswagen Auto Haus Tent. Final stats for the festival included 5650 happy attendees, 275 songs and dances and 16,800 beers enjoyed!
Date of festival: Usually takes place at the end of September and start of October.
Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest
The Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest in Ontario is the biggest Oktoberfest celebration outside of Germany and is an annual nine-day festival.
Billed as Canada’s greatest Bavarian festival, the event usually attracts more than 700,000 festival-goers over the nine days.
You can also visit 17 German-Canadian clubs, or festhallens as they are known, during the festival. These festhallens combine German beer, food and traditional music and dancing.
Although the beer-based celebrations attract most visitors, the festival offers a range of family and cultural events. The Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest puts on Canada’s biggest Thanksgiving Day Parade and onlookers can see decorative floats, performers and bands. This year it takes place on Monday, 10th October.
Other events to get stuck into include an Oktoberfest Golf Experience, a 5k run and farmers markets to name a few.
Don’t fill up on beer alone as there is plenty of food at this festival. The OktoberFEAST event cashes in on the food truck phenomenon by attracting some of the most innovative eateries around. An added bonus is that it is free to attend for the public.
Date of festival: 7-15 October
Penticton Oktoberfest
The 7th annual Penticton Oktoberfest in British Columbia is set to pack a huge amount of celebration into one day and the festival is certainly one of the best celebrations in Canada.
Go to the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre to enjoy all the best that German beer has to offer. The beers brewed for this Oktoberfest are special as the breweries that turn out for this event compete against each other to create a different beer every year.
In addition to the huge beer tents and the copious amounts of German beer available, visitors can enjoy traditional German drinking songs and mouth-watering food.
What’s unique about this Oktoberfest is that since the festival’s rebirth in 2010 it hasn’t just imported Oktoberfest beers like those served in Munich. It serves locally-crafted beer and local wine, which is very apt considering the festival is located in the famous Okanagan wine country.
Date of festival: 22 October
Image Credit: Kiyan, Alison and Fil, IQRemix, Frank Gaertner (Shutterstock), demarcomedia (Shutterstock).
