Oktoberfest weekend is here! What you need to know to enjoy the Dayton Art Institute’s 50th celebration

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam

The 50th annual Dayton Art Institute Oktoberfest returns this weekend – cheers to that.

Cancelled last year due to the pandemic, the three-day event has made some changes to help ensure a safe celebration.

Hours are adjusted, food vendors will be spread out across the museum grounds to alleviate congestion and the enclosed artisan tents have been eliminated.

But the great food, live music and endless selection of beer and wine are back.

Here’s everything you need to know about the DAI Oktoberfest 2021.

PREVIEW PARTY

Who doesn’t want to get the first look at all the fun? The Oktoberfest Preview Party will be held Friday, Sept. 24 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The ticketed event includes complimentary draft beer, wine and soft drinks and live entertainment by the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC), The Rubi Girls and DJ KimL.

Preview Party tickets are $55 for museum members and $75 for non-members in advance. All tickets purchased at the gate are $95. Preview Party tickets may be purchased online at www.daytonartinstitute.org/oktoberfest, or at the museum’s Guest Service Desk or by phone at 937-223-4ART (4277) during regular museum hours. Guests must be 21 with a valid ID to attend the Preview Party.

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam

THE MAIN EVENT: OKTOBERFEST

Oktoberfest is noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 and from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26.

Advance general admission is $8 for adults and $5 for seniors, 60+ and children ages 7 to 18. Tickets are available by phone at 937-223-4278 or in person at the museum’s Guest Services Desk. They can also be purchased at Arrow Wine, Kettering and Centerville, Dorothy Lane Market, all locations, Ghostlight Coffee, Wayne Avenue and Midtown and Old Scratch Pizza, Midtown and Centerville.

Admission at the gate is $10 for adults and $7 for seniors and youth. Children ages 6 and younger are free.

🌭 WHAT TO EAT

The Lederhosen Lunch — the only free admission of the weekend — will be Friday, Sept. 24 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Get your fill of bratwurst, mettwurst, schnitzel sandwiches, German salads and homemade noodles while listening to live music from by Ken Taylor & His Six Fat Sausage Polka Band.

Lunch menu and prices:

Combo: Includes brat, mett or tenderloin, two sides (German potato salad and homemade noodles), dessert or Mike Sell’s chips, $10

Individual brats/metts/tenderloins: $5

Individual Sides: $3

Beer: $5 (Special Lederhosen Lunch price from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. only)

Soda/water: $3

The food court vendors will spread across the museum grounds and include DAI Former Associate Board Brats & Metts, Bavarian Roasted Nuts, Bessie’s Noodles, Big B’s Tasty BBQ, Black Jack Grill, Bourbon Street, Dayton Eintracht Singing Society, Cosmic Kettle Corn, Dayton Island Grill, DK Diner, Dublin Pub, Greek Orthodox Church, Hamburger Wagon, Hey Hey Bar & Grill, Pretzel Hut, RKP Vending, Schmidt’s Sausage Haus, The Original Strudel Factory, Young’s Dairy and Zombie Dogz.

🎺ENTERTAINMENT

Friday, Sept. 24

Preview Party: Listen to Ken Taylor and His Six Fat Sausage Polka Band from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the Lederhosen Lunch Main Stage.

DJ Kim L, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company and The Rubi Girls will perform from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the Preview Party Main Stage.

Saturday, Sept. 25

Food Tent: Ken and Mary Turbo Accordions perform from noon to 3 p.m. and Ken Taylor and His Six Fat Sausage Polka Band will perform from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Main Stage: 5 Story Plunge performs from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Ithika performs from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 26

Food Tent: Ken and Mary Turbo Accordions perform from noon to 3 p.m. and Route 161 Happy Wanderers Trio perform from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Main Stage: TRUK performs from noon to 2 p.m., Southbound performs from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Spungewurthy performs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

ACCO BRANDS FAMILYFEST YOUTH & FAMILY ART ACTIVITIES

Free and fun art activities will be held Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 :30 p.m. including a collaborative quilled paper mural and pretzel headband kits!

Start the fun in ACCO Brands Family tent, located in front of the Rike administrative building, and complete your art kit anywhere on the festival grounds or at-home.

🍺 WHAT TO DRINK

🍻 THE BEER

Main Truck (draft beer $6)

Miller Lite, Warsteiner Oktoberfest, Blue Moon, Warsteiner Dunkel, Warsteiner Pils, Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest, Atwater Oktoberfest, Konig Ludwig Weiss, Hop Valley Bubble Stash, Strongbow, Blue Moon.

Greek & River Gates (draft beer $6)

Miller Lite, Warsteiner Oktoberfest, Leinenkugel’s Oktoberfest, Blue Moon, Hop Valley Bubble Stash, Atwater Pumpkin

Warsteiner Truck (draft beer $6)

Warsteiner Oktoberfest, Warsteiner Pils, Warsteiner Dunkel, Konig Weissbier

Craft Beer Truck #1 (draft beer $7)

Great Lakes Oktoberfest, Southern Tier Pumpking, Fifty West Veinermobile, Fankzaner Weisse, New Belgium Dominga Sour, Founders Breakfast Stout, Brew Kettle White Rajah, SweetWater Hazy IPA, Fifty West American Lager, Moeller Blackberry Wheat

Craft Beer Truck #2 (All beer $7)

Bitburger Festbier, FatHead Gratefruit Goggle Fogger, Weihenstephaner Festbier, Jackie O’s Mystic Mama, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, Madtree Happy Amber, Narragansett Lager, Three Floyds Zombie Dust, Heavy Seas Tropicannon, Left Hand Peanutbutter Stout, La Chouffee, Vedett Extra White.

Bottle Shop (prices vary by beer)

Warsteiner Pilsener, Grolsch Swintop, Smirnoff Red, White & Berry, Great Lakes Nosferatu, Founders Underground Mountain Brown, New Belgium Transatlantique Kriek, Franziskaner Weiss, New Belgium Voodoo Ranger, Lagunitas Hazy Wonder, Fifty West Lemonade, BNektar Zombie Killer, Weihenstephaner Dunkel, Aventinus, Weihenstephaner Hefe, Ciderboys Peach, Stone Arrogant Bastard, Carlsberg Lager, Stone IPA, Dubbel, Narragansett Del’s Lemon Shandy

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam

🍾 The Cantina (hard seltzers and more $6)

Vizzy Lemonade, Smirnoff Pink Lemonade, Southern Tier Vodka Soda, Onda Tequila Lime, Crook Blackberry Mojito, Svedka Vodka Soda, Canteen Vodka Soda, Mighty Swell Blackberry, Mighty Swell Pineapple.

🍷 THE WINE

Preview Party (main wine location only)

LaMarca-Prosecco , Dr. L-Riesling, Stoneleigh-Sauvignon Blanc, 59 Prime “Sophie’s Cuvee”-Pinot Noir , The Prisoner “Unshackled”-Red Blend

Saturday and Sunday (all wine $7 a glass and $25 bottle in the main wine and Weingarten locations)

White wines: Relax Riesling, Three Pears Pinot Grigio, Z. Alexander Brown Sauvignon Blanc, Rodney Strong Chardonnay, Charles & Charles Rose.

Red Wines: Kenwood Pinot Noir, 19 Crimes Snoop Dog Cali Red Blend, McManis Cabernet Sauvignon

NEW THIS YEAR

Visit Oktoberfest for special happy hour prices from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 26. Draft beer, wine and Cantina selections are $5; bottles of wine are $18. Bottle Shop excluded from happy hour prices.

🚌 PARKING AND SHUTTLES

Free shuttle service will be offered during the Preview Party and Oktoberfest weekend.

During the weekend a shuttle service will run from the University of Dayton parking lot on River Park Drive. The lot is located between the Dayton Marriott and Cox Media Group building, and River Park Drive may be accessed from either Main Street or Patterson Boulevard. Look for the shuttle signs and take the free shuttle directly to and from the Dayton Art Institute.

Parking is available but very limited in the neighborhood surrounding the DAI. Bicycle parking will be available near the River Gate entrance to Oktoberfest.

👕 OKTOBERFEST MERCH

A selection of Oktoberfest T-shirts for adults and youth and long-sleeve pullovers will be for sale ranging from $15 to $40. Hat pins sell for $10.

The 50th anniversary Oktoberfest mug, a collectors’ item for generations of Daytonians, will also be sold. Shot-sized, small and large mugs will range between $10 and $40. Wine tumblers are $20.

🎨 ARTISANS

The artisan tents were eliminated this year because the enclosed spaces limit air flow and become very congested.

A special page highlighting the artisans with links to their websites and online stores will be live during the event and can be found here.

More information about the Dayton Art Institute Oktoberfest can be found here.

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