Oktoberfest in Connecticut

There’s a number of festivals celebrating Oktoberfest in Connecticut for the 350,000 people claiming German descent in the state. Here they are:

Historic Perry House Oktoberfest – Stratford, CT
A one day fundraiser in mid-late September at the Historic Perry House. Includes German dancers, beer and wursts, pretzels and other Bavarian delicacies.
Location: 1128 W Broad St, Stratford, CT 06615

Old Heidelberg Oktoberfest – Bethel, CT – Usually the last 3 weekends of September.
There’s a beer garden, Oktoberfest beer and foods, music, kids entertainment and German store.
Location: 55 Stony Hill Rd, Bethel CT 06801

Quassy Amusement Park Oktoberfest – Middlebury, CT – September 28-29, 2013
This celebration of Oktoberfest with food, music and dancing in the Fieldside Pavilion has been going on more than 20 years.
Location: Quassy Amusement Park, Lake Quassapaug, Rt. 64 (2132 Middlebury Road), Middlebury, CT 06762

Hartford Saengerbund Oktoberfest
German Beer, Food, Cakes, Pretzels, Live Music and Fun.
Location: 719 North Mountain Rd, Newington CT 06111

AIDS Project New Haven Oktoberfest – Hamden, CT – September 28, 2013
This is an annual fundraiser for the oldest HIV/AIDS service organization in Connecticut. It includes German and fall-inspired foods, beer tastings, music, and a silent auction. It is usually held at the New Haven Country Club.
Location: 160 Hartford Turnpike Hamden, CT 06517

Oktoberfest Milford – Milford, CT
A one day Oktoberfest in late September with beer garden, German and American food, live music, German dancers, kids games and a hot dog eating contest.
Location: Rotary Pavilion at Fowler Field, 1 Shipyard Ln, Milford, CT 06460

Gaelic-American Club Oktoberfest – Fairfield, CT
Location: 74 Beach Road, Fairfield, CT. 06824

Harugari Singing Society Oktoberfest – West Haven, CT
This German American family society holds an annual Oktoberfest with dinner, live music and entertainment.
Location: 66 Highland St, West Haven CT 06516

Camille B. Perugini Charitable Trust Oktoberfest – Naugatuck, CT
Beer and Wine Tasting, Live Entertainment; German and American Food Concessions
Location: Jesse Camille’s Restaurant, 615 North Church Street, Naugatuck, Connecticut

Meriden Turner Society Oktoberfest – Meriden, CT – October 26, 2013
A smoked pork chop dinner with live music and bavarian dancers performing.
Location: Meriden Turner’s Halle, 800 Old Colony Rd, Meriden, CT

We have just added these maps with the locations of each Oktoberfest. We may not have had the exact location for each Oktoberfest so in some instances we have placed the marker in the general vicinity of the Oktoberfest. Be sure to get specific directions from another source and do not solely rely on our map at the moment. We have also noticed that the markers may not show up on some mobile browsers. We will work to sort out this bug in the future.

Please confirm dates, locations and activities available at the Oktoberfest before going. That’s one reason that we provide a website address when we find one. We attempt to ensure that the information for each Oktoberfest is accurate but there are bound to be a few errors. If you let us know when you find one, we will fix it. In some cases, we may link to the 2012 event when information for 2013 is not available. Do not be fooled.

The festivals listed range in size. Some events may have hundreds of thousands of attendees. Others may have only a handful. We’re sorry that we don’t have more information about attendance numbers at the moment. We will do our best to add this information as time goes on.

Professionalism varies as well. Some Oktoberfests are professional operations with large budgets. Others are local operations run by volunteers. Do your due diligence before making plans to attend so that you know what to expect. We will happily publish information about your experience with any Oktoberfest so that our visitors will be better informed in the future.

Some Oktoberfests are more family friendly than others. If you have small children, look for an Oktoberfest that has activities for kids. Other events start out with family friendly activities and become more adult oriented as it becomes later in the evening.

Not all Oktoberfest celebrations will be authentic German festival experiences. Some may simply be an excuse to drink rather than celebrate German heritage. Some may call themselves Oktoberfest but provide local or seasonal beer rather than authentic German Oktoberfest beer. Be sure to consider the type of celebration that you are looking to attend when you pick your Oktoberfest.

Activities offered at each Oktoberfest varies. Some activities that you may find are parades, keg tapping ceremony, beer gardens, Miss Oktoberfest or costume contests, stein holding contests, bratwurst eating contest, chicken dance, wiener races, keg toss, live German bands and local entertainment, polka dancing and fairground games. Some Oktoberfest events will just have beer and brats.

Please don’t drink and drive. We want everyone to get home safe. Use a designated driver or take public transportation.

Do you run one of the Oktoberfests listed? Feel free to send us additional information and we will add it. We apologize for any errors: send us corrections when you find them!

Connecticut, it’s possible that you can easily make it to the surrounding states of Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island for some large Oktoberfest celebrations.

We’ve got some other resources that would help you prepare for Oktoberfest as well. Read about the history of Oktoberfest. Learn about Oktoberfest beer. Find the words to Oktoberfest music. Plan your Oktoberfest outfit. And try cooking some of these Oktoberfest recipes.

Find other fun things to do in Connecticut in October:

Connecticut Festivals
Connecticut Corn Mazes
Connecticut Ghost Tours
Haunted Houses in Connecticut
Pumpkin Patches in Connecticut