Oktoberfest brings money to downtown, creates tradition

A giant black squirrel dressed in a lederhosen and several alpine hats gathered the brick road of Franklin Avenue as the Kent community came together through the cold weather to celebrate Oktoberfest on Saturday Oct. 4. The event was brought to the city by Main Street Kent, a non-profit organization dedicated to revitalizing downtown Kent.

An entrance fee of $10 provided a collectible stein (to the first 500 people) and the first beer. Any beer after that was $5.

“We haven’t yet determined a final amount, but everyone had a great time and we raised some resources that we can funnel back into historic preservation and the enhancement of our unique, vibrant and very cool downtown,” said Heather Malarcik, member of Main Street Kent.

Without the final amount, we can see that $5,000 was easily made from the mugs alone.

Four Oktoberest beers and Bud Light were on tap for the attendees.

“I liked that I was able to sample the beers before making a standard choice on which one to drink first,” said Rachael Buhrow, junior visual communications design major at Kent State.

The weather wasn’t cooperative for Kent’s festivities, but despite the cold temperatures and rain, Oktoberfest gave the community a good time.

“Despite the weather challenges, we sold out of both out mugs and also all of the beer we had,” said Michelle Sahr, treasurer of Main Street Kent and owner of Off the Wagon in downtown Kent. “We were very happy with the results both in terms of bringing people downtown for the day and as a fundraiser for Main Street Kent.”

Ray’s Place, The Pufferbelly and Taco’s Tontos were all vendors during the festival. In addition to having a weekend dedicated to German food, Ray’s Place featured several German beers on tap.

Daniel Olson, a member of Kent Jaycee, said the music fests and other Main Street Kent events are great for the community.

“It’s [events] getting the city of Kent, the local businesses and the community to actively engage in enjoying what the city has to offer,” Olson said. “From what I can tell, it all seems to benefit which is key in growing this community in a symbolic environment.”

Music kept the festival alive during the day and night.

Starting at noon was Doppel Adler Bavarian Brass Band. It was the traditional German oom-pah and dance groups to set the scene of the festival. Bands like The Twistoffs, Roger Hoover nad the Hunt, and Café ‘80s played until 10 p.m. when the festival ended.

The future of Kent Oktoberfest

“I definitely think that Oktoberfest was enough of a success to turn the event into a great Kent tradition,” Olsen said.

From the presence on social media, pictures with the lederhosen-wearing black squirrel, mugs sold and beer drank, I think it’s safe to say Oktoberfest will continue to live on in Kent.

“We have already planned for future events and will have more mugs, beer and seating,” Sahr said. “We will also work on having more vendors and food.”