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Old Town Newhall Oktoberfest 2014

Old Town Newhall Oktoberfest 2014

Uploaded 10/11/2014

Story by Melissa Lampert, Hometownstation.com | Photos by Leon Worden, SCVTV-SCVNews

 

Hundreds of Santa Clarita Valley residents enjoyed Oktoberfest for the first time in Santa Clarita at Old Town Newhall on Saturday.

The family-friendly event included authentic German music by the German Zeitgeist Band, a variety of German beers, Bavarian food, costume contests, chicken dancing, games like “keg bowling” and more.

“It’s the first time Santa Clarita has ever done an Oktoberfest,” said Wendy Albright, one of the event coordinators. “The Old Town Newhall Association decided to put this together and it’s been wildly, overly successful.”

A total of 850 tickets were sold online, and tickets at the door sold out quickly, she said.

The German Zeitgeist Band has been Disney’s Oktoberfest band for three years in a row, and have played Oktoberfests at the Staples Center, Los Angeles Country Club, festivals and churches.

Oktoberfest originated in Germany for the purpose of brewing beer, according to Albright.

“In Germany they only allowed them to brew the beer at certain times, so they had to have events where they drank all the beer so they could be allowed to brew more,” she said.

Event attendees had the chance to enjoy eight different kinds of authentic German beers, as well as four different kinds of bratwurst, pretzels with bavarian beer cheese, strudels and more.

Comments
46 Comments for Oktoberfest 2014: Old Town Newhall Oktoberfest 2014
  1. Anonymous says:

    I am sure you have received many complaints on your Old Downtown Newhall Oktoberfest that took place on Saturday afternoon. Here is one more. My husband and I have been to many Oktoberfest’s over the years (including Big Bear, Munich and Alpine Village in Torrance to name a few) but your Oktoberfest was by far the WORST one we have ever attended. It was so poorly organized and the food and beer lines were a joke! There should have been at minimum of 3 food booths and 4-5 beer booths spread evening around the event, that would have made things go much faster and no long lines! 2 Hours to get our food was absolutely ridiculous and also a one hour wait in line to get a beer? Come on! Also Wolf Creek ran out of beer 1 ½ hours into the event. They asked if they could have Wolf Creek bring in more kegs of their beer from the Brewery and they were told by the organizers not do so. . That made the German Beer line even longer!!!! We should have left and asked for our money back! Who organized this? Obviously they had never been to an Oktoberfest before. There were no bathrooms or Port-a Potty’s which was outrageous at an Oktoberfest with a crowd of 1200 people! Also the band was HORRIBLE and they were set up so far back from the booths. There should have been a covered tent for the dance floor as it was in the low 90’s, too hot for people to dance but then again the music was so bad who would want to dance to it. The space for the event was too small for the crowd. There so few vendors, that as another joke. I have nothing but bad and negative comments to make. People should have all gotten their money refunded for such a poor festival. Most of the people that attended ended up at the Mexican restaurant down the street to actually get a cold beer in a reasonable amount of time. We will not attend this event again. If you plan on having it next year I highly suggest you get another venue and another organizer(s). It was a waste of time for our precious Saturday afternoon since we both work full time. All in all in was a HUGE disappointment.

  2. Wayne Chadwick says:

    Worst planned event! All we did was wait in lines, 1hour to order food, 1 hours waiting for the food after we ordered, 1 hour waiting in beer line for a pre-pour warm flat beer!
    Someone better learn how to put on an event! Waste of a Saturday afternoon

  3. Dennis Clark Dennis Clark says:

    Funny how it was said to have “been canceled” but yet theu try holding the event anyways no surprise that ended up not what people expected

  4. How could this story get written?? Come on now! Do some accurate reporting! The event was a huge debacle. A complete rip off!!

  5. A.j. Gardner A.j. Gardner says:

    Matthew Wizzo Wizniak

  6. Cathy says:

    I think it will turn into a great event. It looked like there were more people than they planned for. That being said, this is the 1st time the event has ever taken place, it’s hard to gauge how many people will be attending. Vendors don’t like to go to an event and there be a small turn out. I’m sure next year there will be more beer/food vendors. Give these people a break..the music was great and food was delicious.

    • Dave says:

      They ABSOLUTELY knew how many people were going to come. They were boasting pre-event that they had sold 850 tickets. Yet when the day arrived they had TWO beer vendors (down to one within two hours) and ONE food vendor. They were happy to collect the money, but couldn’t care less about the experience.

  7. Raul Engle Raul Engle says:

    They took off the option to post comments on their FB page. They do allow messages at this time. :) Looks like they are hiding to me.

  8. Dave says:

    Wow !!! Now they know they need a lot more of everything to pull this off again, more shaded seating more food booths, more staff or volunteers, I thought that food trucks were to be there also…Get with the people that organize Cowboy festival…That seems to work…

  9. Jason Jones Jason Jones says:

    You had plastic cups lol ?

  10. Pretty sad but what do you expect? Try Lucky Baldwins in Pasadena. They have Octoberfest everyday till the end of the month

  11. Terrible event. Left after 2 minutes and headed to the Refinery.

  12. Anaheim was better :)

  13. Danni McCall Danni McCall says:

    What a huge disappointment! All I wanted was beer, brats and a pretzel… Is that too much to ask from an Oktoberfest!? Apparently!
    After and hour and a half in line we were rudely told there were no flights and we could choose from one of 3 [warm] beers (I felt bad for the bar tender and tried not to shoot the messenger but that’s NOT what we paid for) .. While standing in the hour long line my husband and I said how glad we were none of our friends came with us. We would have been so embarrassed to bring them to such a poorly coordinated event…. And while still waiting in line for beer joked about finishing it quickly to leave ASAP and eat elsewhere rather than stand in ANOTHER line for food… Everyone deserves a refund!

  14. Last I checked negative comments were being deleted off their Oktoberfest FB page. A joke.

  15. I was in one of the VIP tents, we ordered round one (of what we had hoped would be many more rounds) of beers and were advised to order the food when the beer came. Almost two hours later and we were still beerless, So we ended up walking to the beer lines where the ONLY waitress helped us finally get our beers. When we inquired about food she stated that it wouldn’t be worth it due to the amount of time it was taking to turn out the food. This was the most unorganized, un-family friendly waste of time and money. The organizers should be stripped of their duties.

  16. Gloria Diaz good thing we didn’t go. Lol. Maybe next year it will be better.

  17. Was so embarrassed I invited our friends to come with us. What a joke of an event! Waste of time & money! Bought pre paid tickets, never got my beer and left after 15 minutes. Nothing to do there but wait in lines. TERRIBLE!!!!

  18. Falon Renteria and Shannon Carskadon… What did you guys think??

  19. Come on where are the organizers to defend this baboonery?

  20. I forgot to mention one huge failure! They did not have enough seating, unless you paid $200 for a tent (I bet those people are kicking themselves). The few tables/chairs they did have were immediately claimed. I’ve never been to Oktoberfest celebration where they did not have table and benches to sit on.

  21. Sooooo, I’m German and I realize it’s not going to be a replica of Munich, but this was the WORST I have EVER seen! I was reDy to leave 15 minutes after arriving. Some of the food offerings seemed appealing and authentic, but I didn’t stick around long enough to try anything. The lines were too long, the band was a horrible representation of German music. He couldn’t pull off a proper german toast! At the very least you need to learn how to do that! Nobody seemed to be able to answer questions. The booths and vendors were boring. Suffice it to say, it was one of the worst functions I’ve been to. What a waste of money!!!

  22. Stephen, elaborate please. The greens? Not following.

  23. Stephen Gold Stephen Gold says:

    U guys so pretend why don’t we make the Greens a best fest ever week.. And u guys can all drive new cars thanks to the city. But don’t forget about us, your community

  24. Glad I missed it. No one seemed to have liked it.

  25. Raul Engle Raul Engle says:

    Oh, I didn’t coin this term, but someone called it “Linetoberfest”. Haha!

  26. Raul Engle Raul Engle says:

    I agree…very disappointing! We were lucky enough to get our beers, but 5 minutes into the line we knew it wasn’t well organized. There wasn’t anywhere to sit. The lines were long. I felt bad for the vendors and volunteers. There should have been more than one tent to get your food too. At least there should have had food trucks and maybe let them do their own spin on a german dish. Problem was quickly solved when we went to Newhall Refinery. We also saved people some money trying to decide if they should go into the event. We did enjoy the band though. First event or not, at least do your research on other events and what makes them successful. Very poor planning and execution.

  27. Jon Vitti Jon Vitti says:

    I think they underestimated how many people would actually attend this. Luckily they shut down ticket sales before I could even get inside.

  28. Jeffrey Paal Jeffrey Paal says:

    I’m pretty sure Melissa Lampert wasn’t even at the same event that she was writing about. This was the worst excuse of an Oktoberfest I have ever been to. I also found it offensive that there were more tents dedicated to people running for office than there were tents for the beer, food, games, etc. I’m hoping if this event happens to make it to a second year the event organizers actually do a little research and see what an Oktoberfest actually looks like

  29. Yeah I wouldn’t say anyone enjoyed any of that shamble

  30. Adam Kliarsky Petra Kliarsky

  31. I’m so pissed. What a waste of time and money! Most of the people that were there had pre paid, and they ran out of beer.
    Not cool. I’ve been to many Oktoberfest events, this was the worst planned event I’ve ever been to. On a happy note the refinery got slammed, and still managed to serve folks some delicious food, and beer. The organizers of this event should be ashamed!

  32. Ryan Achzet Ryan Achzet says:

    There was nothing family friendly about it. The lines were long. They ran out beer flights and most beers by 3. Sadly, it was not a good event.

  33. Thomas Bravo Thomas Bravo says:

    Glad I didn’t go

  34. Very to sad say I agree 100% that this event was a complete waste of time & money. I looked forward to this event all week. What a disappointment. Absolutely nothing to do or see once inside. I would not even call this fiasco an Oktoberfest…EPIC FAIL!

  35. Daniel Konz Daniel Konz says:

    There were lines to wait in lines, on top of lines..!

    Lame..!

  36. Too small of a space and too many long lines

  37. That event was a waste of time and money!!! Whoever orchestrated that event should not be allowed to host another event again!!! Jennifer Fricke Preach William PreachAmanda Michaud Andrew Royal HannerLesley Crawford Dorso

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