Bangor fest gives October its due Saturday fair offers family-centered fun

BANGOR – The Germans sure know how to throw a wedding reception.

On Oct. 17, 1810, Crown Prince Luitpold I married Princess Theressa of Bavaria in a meadow in Munich. A public party followed, complete with a horse race, food, dancing and plenty of beer. It was such a great time that it evolved into an annual event, and Oktoberfest was born.

Today in Munich, the celebration lasts several weeks, from late September to early October. In Bangor, however, all of the festivities will be packed into one day as the fifth annual Oktoberfest comes to town at noon Saturday in West Market Square, Pickering Square and the downtown parks.

“It’s taken a little bit of the old-fashioned Oktoberfest and brought it to downtown Bangor,” said Brad Ryder, owner of Epic Sports and one of the festival’s organizers. “It’s a fun event; it’s a family event in the spirit of Oktoberfest, which is really celebration.”

Food vendors will be on hand with sausage, bratwurst, sauerkraut and other goodies. And the beer tent, which is always a big draw, will return to West Market Square. But this year, organizers have tried to make the event more family-friendly by offering a host of activities for children and adults on the Kenduskeag Mall (the park where Hannibal Hamlin’s statue is located).

There, the Art Studios of Bangor will continue a German tradition by encouraging kids and grownups to decorate their own holiday ornaments from 1 to 3 p.m. The German Club of Bangor will teach German-Austrian folk dancing. There will also be pumpkin carving, pony rides and balloons, and the Bangor Museum and Center for History, located at 6 State St., will hold a scavenger hunt from noon to 2 p.m. The children will search for objects and references in the current exhibit, “From Away: Examining Bangor’s Cultural Heritage.”

“Cultural things are easier [for children] to digest than historic dates and places – I think it becomes much more personal,” said Linda Jaffe, the museum’s executive director, who is trying to expand the center’s educational outreach among area schoolchildren. “I would really like to see this be almost like a history lab.”

In addition to the beer tent, Oktoberfest will offer plenty of activities for adults, as well. Antique-car buffs and motorcycle mamas (and papas) will show off their wheels in Pickering Square during a cruise-in and Harley-Davidson gathering. A variety of musical acts, including a traditional German band, a ska band and a steel band, will take the stage in West Market Square from noon to 6 p.m. And Chris Geaghan, the charismatic owner of the Whig & Courier, will don a dress and braids for the second year in a row.

“Gretel will return,” Geaghan said, laughing.

In the last five years, the festival has grown from a small but lively gathering in West Market Square to encompass the whole downtown district. But the festival sponsors – Ryder, Geaghan, Paul Noonan of the New Moon Cafe, Rick Schweikert of the Grasshopper Shop, and the Bangor Center Corp. – have remained true to the roots of Oktoberfest. The message remains the same: Come downtown. Have fun. Walk around. Explore. And if you shop or grab a bite to eat, so much the better.

“I hear a lot of people say ‘Gee, I haven’t been downtown in a long time,’ and this shows them, especially in the last few years, that things have changed a lot for the positive,” Ryder said.