OB Oktoberfest 2010

Coming October 9th

I love an outdoor party; there’s nothing better than enjoying good music, sun, an ocean breeze, dancing, fun people and beer at the same time and OB is the ultimate outdoor party town.  There’s a party for every season and then some, and I couldn’t be happier about it.  Next Saturday is OB’s Oktoberfest.

I managed to grab one of organizers of this year’s OB homage to German beer drinking the other day while he was dropping off early-bird tickets for the beer tasting portion of the day at the OBMA office.  Hilary is a good looking charmer who looks like he knows how to throw a party.  He is part of the Hoy Hoy Boys Inc. and they are throwing one hell of a party this coming Saturday.

They’ve had some practice in past years starting in 2002 when they tried to create a traditional German festival complete with carnival and liederhosen in Dusty Rhodes Park.  They quickly learned, however, we weren’t so interested in partying like a German from 1910.   It turns out, we were more interested in a true OB style party with a little German fun (and beer) thrown in.  Now the organizers aim to capture the spirit of Oktoberfest with OB squarely in the center, think of it as Okt–OB-Beer-Fest (lame pun entirely my own).

In Munich certain Oktoberfest tents feature only beers from local breweries.  We thought that this would be an excellent tradition to bring to OB Oktoberfest, given San Diego’s large and active microbrew community.

I recommend getting to the party early and catching the shenanigans of the Half-Assed Hashers for the Brot Trot Hash (try saying that fast) starting at 10 am.  For even more fun, why not join them?  I understand they have absolutely no taste in friends and they accept anyone (who is over 21).  Registration is at 9am.  Hashing, for those not in the know, is an irreverent game created by bored Brits in Malaysia in 1938 who combined their love of drinking with an English racing game, Hare and Hounds.  Today, Hash House Harriers call themselves drinkers with a running problem and are united by having no uniting organizational hierarchy.  Each group, or kennel, is known as the MisManagment and the Oktoberfest organizers used bribes of beer tasting and bratwurst to attract the most half-assed hashing kennel in the city to hold the ultimate half-hash (5 kms).  If you want to participate check out the Half-Assed Harriers website for further non-details or visit it just for laughs.

The late raisers among us can join the Hashers as they finish their non-race as they  belly up to the beer tasting tables starting at 11.  Here we can all ponder San Diego’s favorite philosophical question, “Who makes the best beer in the county?” or we can simply savor our luck for not living in Sonoma Valley where we’d be waiting until noon to sip Chardonnay in our Chambray shirt, Khakis and closed toed shoes.
If you hanker for a more traditional Oktoberfest, come listen the Bavarian Beer Garden Band (starting at 10:45 and playing throughout day) and drink German Beer (the organizers promise that at least one will be available).  If you close your eyes, you may even forget the bothersome palm trees, ocean and nice weather and think you have been transported to cool and land-locked Munich.

Claudia Jack at the OBMA tells me, grinning from ear to ear at the thought, that we have to tear ourselves away from the other festivities (and beer drinking) and check out Lobster Bob at the seaside stage.   Apparently he is one of those entertainers who can charm the pants off of you and make you enjoy it.  You won’t even notice you aren’t drinking and you can bring the kids.  He’s there from 11:30 to 3:50.

Mike Pinto Band outside a familiar OB night spot

At noon, the Devastators will begin to liven up things with their brand of good San Diego reggae.  Next on stage, at 1:50  is San Diego’s The Concrete Project with their eclectic mixture of lyrical tunes and hip hop numbers delivered by a refreshing assortment of musician/artist/poets.  Full Blown Stone is at 3:15, a San Diegan group of life-long friends who are making waves with their tuneful self-described “psychedelic reggae.” If their video “With You” is any indication, they are bound to be fun, a sort of dirty and bad assed “Bare Naked Ladies”.  As a lover of ska and surf music, I’m excited to see the Mike Pinto Band at 6:00 pm.  Mike’s an OB resident, so you’ll want to show him some love.  Closing the evening with a bang is the Vokab Kompany’s  lively musicality, certain to get everyone dancing, bobbing and spending any remaining energy we have.
Of course, during the day, there’s food and contests including brat tossing (sausages not children) and other fun things so check out the OB Oktoberfest site for more details.

There’s a free Shuttle Bus leaving every half hour from 710 Beach Club in PB from 11:30 am to 8:30 pm.

The Seaside Stage and green belt vendors are free.  It costs $3 for Beer Garden Admission and beer is available to purchase.  Beer tasting event is $15 (you’ll also need to buy a $3 admission ticket to the Beer Garden).   If you buy a beer tasting ticket in advance at the OBMA office (and elsewhere), your $3.00 admission fee will be waived.  If you wait for the day, you won’t get the $3 off.

The event is presented by the Hoy Hoy Boys Inc with support from the Ocean Beach Mainstreet Association and the Ocean Beach Community Foundation who will both benefit from the event.  Sponsors include: Karl Srauss Oktoberfest Beer, Tarintino Gourmet Sausages, Jagermeister,  Kleege Staging and Spectrum Audio.  The event has helped raise almost $140,000 for charities since 2003.