The Southlake Chamber of Commerce will host its annual Oktoberfest at Southlake Town Square this weekend, Oct. 15-17.
The 20th anniversary of the festival runs from 4-11 p.m. on Friday, from 10 a.m.-11 p.m. on Saturday and from noon-8 p.m. on Sunday.
Signature activities will include lederhosen and dirndl costume contests, a stein hoisting contest ,and the annual wiener dog race—in which 70 dogs are expected to race.
Live entertainment will be featured on three stages continuously throughout the festival, with headlining band The Molly Ringwalds.
“We’ve got a very family-friendly event that will also be very fun,” Southlake Oktoberfest chair Ian MacLean said. “What I’m hoping we’ll see is that everyone who was cooped up last year will have a stellar time. We have the best Oktoberfest that we’ve ever thrown teed up, so we’re poised to show everyone a great time.”
With arts and crafts booths from local vendors, food available for purchase, live entertainment, and a children’s area, organizers are anticipating around 100,000 attendees.
“We have lots of businesses involved in the event—a big part of the event is helping small businesses to get noticed and establish brand recognition to grow their customer portfolio,” MacLean said. “It’s a business-building event disguised as a very fun Oktoberfest.”
MacLean said the event being moved to the third weekend of the month from the historic first weekend dates improves the festival’s quality.
