The first Oktoberfest in the Warehouse will run from 3 p.m. to midnight Oct. 11.

The festival will take place on Huron Street between Monroe and Washington streets in front of The Blarney and Sam Okun Produce and beside Fifth Third Field.

“We wanted to do some kind of street festival and we were looking last spring at when we could do something,” said Ed Beczynski, owner of The Blarney.  “I wanted to do some kind of party, and us being a pub, we thought Oktoberfest would go hand-in-hand.

“We knew the mayor wanted more things in Downtown,” he said. “We were looking at doing something anyway. I have been to Oktoberfest in Cincinnati and other cities.”

The day will start at 3 p.m. with free admission until 5 p.m. for family fun activities provided by The Toledo Zoo, TC Hops from ProMedica, Louie the Lightning Bug from Toledo Edison and games and prizes from The Little Clinic. Music and entertainment will be provided by Holzhacker Buam and The Wood Chopper Boys at 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Admission will be $5 after 5 p.m. featuring live music, including Empire Drift, Kentucky Chrome and Velvet Jones. Proceeds benefit the Northwest Ohio Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Food will be presented by The Blarney, including brats, potato pancakes, sauerkraut balls, soft pretzels, and Tony Packo’s will offer hot dogs, chicken paprikash, fried pickles and strudel. Food tickets are $1 each. Samuel Adams Oktoberfest and Great Lakes Oktoberfest will be on tap.

“We want this to be annual,” Beczynski said. “We have already met with the new arena folks and hopefully incorporate bringing in a large band.”

Beczynksi said a fall festival made sense because the street couldn’t be closed down during baseball season. Also, it’s nice for people to have something other than a baseball game to come Downtown, he said.

“This is a kickoff and we expect it to be a good kickoff,” he said.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 4:31 am and is filed under Fundraiser.
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