People sit beside the Fountain Square fountain in downtown Evanston. Photo: Eric Fredericks from Rancho Cordova, CA, United States / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Evanston is getting an Oktoberfest of its own. The first Evanston Oktoberfest takes place Sunday, Oct. 11, from 1 to 5 p.m. in downtown Evanston, built around beer from the city’s own breweries and brewpubs.
Who is pouring
Four local names are on the list: Temperance, Smylie Brothers Brewing, Peckish Pig and Sketchbook Brewing. Each is to pour four samples. Downtown Evanston, the nonprofit that manages and markets the central business district, is organizing the afternoon, and ticket sales help cover its costs.
Beer is only part of the plan. Organizers have lined up live music and dancing, plus activities for children. Evanston restaurants and food vendors will sell dishes at the event, separate from the ticket price, and attendees were advised to bring cash.
Tickets
Pricing runs in tiers, which accounts for the $10 to $50 range:
- VIP, $50 plus tax: early entry at noon, a commemorative sampling glass, a cask ale sampler, a drink from FEW Spirits and sixteen 3-ounce pours.
- General admission, $35 plus tax: the sampling glass and sixteen 3-ounce pours, with entry from 1 p.m.
- Designated drivers and guests 13 and older who are not drinking, $10 plus tax: a commemorative water bottle.
- Children 12 and under: free.
Tickets are being sold through Eventbrite.
Hours are 1 to 5 p.m. for general admission. Because the pours are small and the ticket includes a fixed number of them, the afternoon is closer to a tasting than a traditional beer-hall session, and the designated-driver ticket is priced to make it an easy choice for anyone driving.
A festival built on local beer
The name borrows from the long-running Munich festival, but the Evanston version is organized around small pours from nearby brewers rather than steins by the liter. Putting four local producers side by side, with area restaurants supplying the food, makes it as much a showcase for the downtown dining and drinking scene as a beer event.
The Daily Northwestern later reported that the event had grown into a fall fixture, with its fifth edition in 2019 drawing a crowd of more than a thousand to the intersection of Oak Avenue and University Place.
Rachel Lindqvist covers community life, the lakefront, dining and the arts for The Evanston Edge.
