There are only a few places to celebrate Oktoberfest in Utah in September and October 2015. If you live in the Salt Lake City area, make the short drive to the annual, multi-weekend event at Snowbird for German food, beer and fun. It has been named one of the best in the country. If you are aware of other German festivals in the area, please let us know about them!
Last Major Update:
2015 Events
We update the dates for each Utah Oktoberfest as they are announced throughout the year. Right now, we have:
Snowbird Oktoberfest – Snowbird, Utah – Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 15 – Oct. 11, 2015
The Snowbird Ski Resort (located southeast of Salt Lake City) hosts Utah’s most popular German festival. Over 60,000 attend this annual Utah Oktoberfest which started in 1973. Get a taste of Bavaria with authentic food, live German music and yodelers. Local breweries will also be featured. Arts and crafts from local and regional artists will be offered for sale in Der Marktplatz. A ceremonial one litre beer stein is available for collectors. Last year, it kicked off the celebration with a 3K Lederhosen race on the opening day. There was also a Grand Oktoberfest on Labor Day weekend with procession, ceremonial keg tapping and best costume contest to crown Miss and Mister Oktoberfest. Visitors generally consume some 6,000 pounds of weisswurst and bratwurst, 4,500 pounds of chicken and 2,000 Granny Smith apples are eaten in the delicious apple strudel. Free admission. It takes place from noon to 6 PM on the designated weekends.
Past Events
Castle Country Oktoberfest – Price, UT – October 3, 2014
Celebrate October. Silent auction, kids games and entertainment.
Location: Notre Dame Center, 200 N & Carbon Ave., Price, UT
Brian Head Town Oktoberfest- Brian Head, UT – September 21-22, 2013
Brian Head is a resort town located in Southern Utah. At 9800 feet above sea level, it is the highest resort town in America. 2013 will be the 21st annual Oktoberfest celebration of great German food, beer and entertainment here. Oomph band and dancing, kid’s play area, bounce house and face painting. The event was held at Cedar Breaks Lodge and Spa in 2013.
Grace Lutheran Oktoberfest - Sandy, UT – September 21, 2013
Beer garden tent and authentic German food. Local vendors sell products in the marketplace. Children’s carnival with midway rides for family friendly fun. All day ride pass is available for the obstacle course, inflatable slide, bounce house and select other activities. Helicopter rides available in the afternoon and professional fireworks show in the evening.
Location: 1815 E 9800 S, Sandy, UT
Oktoberfest Party and Potluck - Duck Creek Village, UT – October 5, 2013
Bring a dish and dress up to celebrate German heritage.
Location: Duck Creek Dance Hall, Duck Creek Village, UT
Epic Oktoberfest at the Grand – SLC
The Grand Resort hosted a special month long event in downtown Salt Lake City for the first year in 2013. There was a special menu at the Grand Cafe on Friday and Saturday evenings with a three course German meal paired with beer from Epic Brewery.
We have just added these maps with the locations of each Oktoberfest. We may not have had the exact location for each Oktoberfest so in some instances we have placed the marker in the general vicinity of the Oktoberfest. Be sure to get specific directions from another source and do not solely rely on our map at the moment. We have also noticed that the markers may not show up on some mobile browsers. We will work to sort out this bug in the future.
Please confirm dates, locations and activities available at the Oktoberfest before going. That’s one reason that we provide a website address when we find one. We attempt to ensure that the information for each Oktoberfest is accurate but there are bound to be a few errors. If you let us know when you find one, we will fix it. In some cases, we may link to the 2014 event when information for 2015 is not available. Do not be fooled.
The festivals listed range in size. Some events may have hundreds of thousands of attendees. Others may have only a handful. We’re sorry that we don’t have more information about attendance numbers at the moment. We will do our best to add this information as time goes on.
Professionalism varies as well. Some Oktoberfests are professional operations with large budgets. Others are local operations run by volunteers. Do your due diligence before making plans to attend so that you know what to expect. We will happily publish information about your experience with any Oktoberfest so that our visitors will be better informed in the future.
Some Oktoberfests are more family friendly than others. If you have small children, look for an Oktoberfest that has activities for kids. Other events start out with family friendly activities and become more adult oriented as it becomes later in the evening.
Not all Oktoberfest celebrations will be authentic German festival experiences. Some may simply be an excuse to drink rather than celebrate German heritage. Some may call themselves Oktoberfest but provide local or seasonal beer rather than authentic German Oktoberfest beer. Be sure to consider the type of celebration that you are looking to attend when you pick your Oktoberfest.
Activities offered at each Oktoberfest varies. Some activities that you may find are parades, keg tapping ceremony, beer gardens, Miss Oktoberfest or costume contests, stein holding contests, bratwurst eating contest, chicken dance, wiener races, keg toss, live German bands and local entertainment, polka dancing and fairground games. Some Oktoberfest events will just have beer and brats.
Please don’t drink and drive. We want everyone to get home safe. Use a designated driver or take public transportation.
Do you run one of the Oktoberfests listed? Feel free to send us additional information and we will add it. We apologize for any errors: send us corrections when you find them!
You should definitely check out the largest Octoberfests in the United States and the list of nearby states that will have more Oktoberfest celebrations: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming.
Whether you have found a festival to enjoy or you will be celebrating from home, Funtober has some other resources that will help you prepare for Oktoberfest. Read about the history of Oktoberfest. Learn about Oktoberfest beer. Find the words to Oktoberfest music. Plan your Oktoberfest outfit. And try cooking some of these Oktoberfest recipes.
Find other fun things to do in Utah in October:
Utah Festivals
Utah Corn Mazes
Utah Ghost Tours
Haunted Houses in Utah
Utah Pumpkin Patches
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