Octoberfests are on tap in the region

Credit: Joe Tennis | Bristol Herald Courier

Oktoberfest runs each Friday and Saturday night through Oct. 30 at Mountain Lake Resort Hotel in Giles County, Va.

By: Joe Tennis | TriCities.com
Published: October 07, 2010

Of course, it’s October.

And that means Octoberfest – unless you spell it Oktoberfest. Either way, it’s a celebration with feasting and music. And sometimes beer.

That is, literally, what’s on tap this weekend at the Bramwell Oktoberfest, celebrating its 15th year in Mercer County, W.Va., with an event running Oct. 9, 2-8 p.m.

This single-day party features guided outdoor tours of Bramwell’s Millionaire Row Historic District, just across the Virginia border from Pocahontas, a coal town in Tazewell County. The event, also, is known for its traditional folk, blues and bluegrass artists, playing throughout the day.

Then there’s the beer, with samples from microbreweries and home brewers converging during this afternoon in Southern West Virginia.

Must you have beer to have an Oktoberfest? Well, pretty much, said Marie Blackwell, the director of the Mercer County Convention and Visitors Bureau. But not everybody does.

Also going on 15 years, the Davenport/Council Octoberfest is scheduled for Oct. 8-9 at the William P. Harris Recreation Park in Council, Va.

Activities begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 8 and commence again on Oct. 9 at 9 a.m. with hayrides, bingo, a haunted trail, costume contest, concessions, pony rides, an antique and classic car show, arts and crafts sales and displays, inflatable rides, roping contest – and absolutely no alcoholic beverages allowed.

Now let’s take a spin to Mountain Lake Resort Hotel. And never mind the level of the namesake natural lake. At present, it’s hardly half-full.

Still, you will not notice inside the barn at Oktoberfest, a lively celebration of fall with toasting, feasting and music.

This year, Mountain Lake’s Oktoberfest runs each Friday and Saturday night through Oct. 30. You can soak up suds at the "Biergarten," running 5-10 p.m. and check out "Der Appetitanregers" – with German sausages and fresh baked rolls. The "Feast of October," each night at 6 p.m., is served with traditional German food, including a carving station with roasted pig.

Now comes the music. For 22 years, the Mountain Lake Oktoberfest has featured the Sauerkraut Band, a German Oompah band with about 20 members living largely around the New River Valley.

Crowds come to this remote getaway in Giles County, Va., by the dozen – sometimes hundreds – to drink beer, dance and hear the band’s almost-deafening, loud music for three solid hours. Why the success?

"It’s the in-your-face aspect of it," said Eddie Turner, a flugelhorn player of the Sauerkraut Band from Blacksburg, Va. "We have to get out and work the audience."

For the event at Council, call (276) 859-0708.

For tickets ($18 in advance, $20 at the gate) to the Bramwell bash, call the Mercer County Convention and Visitors Bureau at (800) 221-3206 or visit www.bramwelloktoberfest.com.

For the Mountain Lake Oktoberfest, call (800) 346-3334. Tickets are $35 for adults, $26.25 for children ages 12-18 and $17.50 for ages 4-11.