Octoberfest draws hundreds, despite rain

BANGOR – Though the weather Saturday wasn’t what organizers had hoped for, downtown’s fourth annual Octoberfest did not disappoint the hundreds who stopped by to hear music, sample beer and bratwurst or take a turn in the bounce house.

“It’s really been excellent – we’re doing the best we can with what God gave us,” Christopher Geaghan said with a laugh as he peeked up at the sky through the blond wig he wore as part of his getup for the Hansel and Gretel contest earlier in the day.

Though the early part of the day brought overcast skies, the rain held off until midafternoon. Most of the events went on as planned, though inclement weather forced the early closure or cancellation of a few of the planned children’s events and some of the band performances.

Despite the wind and rain, Octoberfest attendees downtown on Saturday afternoon seemed to be enjoying themselves.

“I’m actually surprised at the number of people who are here,” said Anne Grillo of Bangor. Grillo attended her first Bangor Octoberfest with her sons, Harry, 8, and Peter, 3, who snoozed in her arms as the family took shelter under an awning on one of the storefronts overlooking West Market Square.

Don and Sylvia White, also of Bangor, came by to see Flash in the Pans, a Blue Hill-based steel drum band. Their daughter, Nancy White, recently joined the group.

“I like anything that gets people to come out,” Sylvia White said as she watched the band and a small group of people dancing in the rain in front of the bandstand the city of Bangor provided.

Geaghan, who owns the Whig & Courier in West Market Square, was one of the festival’s founders, along with Rick Schweikert of the Grasshopper Shop, Paul Noonan of the New Moon Cafe, and Cheryl and Darrell Gentry, who used to publish a business journal. The group took the idea for a fall festival to the Downtown Bangor Association, which agreed to back the event as way to bring more people downtown and into the businesses there.

This year, the cast has grown to include more members of the downtown business community, as well as representatives from the Maine Discovery Museum and the Bangor YMCA and the city’s parks and recreation department.