Break out the braids, grab a pretzel and hoist your stein—Baton Rouge Oktoberfest returns Sept. 29 with all the pageantry associated with the original Bavarian event.
There’s no need to travel when a $40 ticket provides access to live music, games and German-inspired food here at home.
The third annual Baton Rouge Oktoberfest, organized by the Greater Baton Rouge Chapter of the Louisiana Restaurant Association, takes place at Live Oak @ Cedar Lodge, the bucolic Arabian horse farm on Jefferson Highway. Spend a Sunday meandering through a tasting area replete with sausage, sauerkraut and other nibbles, and swig international beers provided by Mockler Beverage. Dance to local live music by Pants Party, smile for the camera through a festive photo board and test your mettle in all manner of zany competitions.
“We do a stein-hoisting contest, barrel racing and a costume contest for everyone wanting to get into the spirit,” says Stephen Hightower, LRA Greater Baton Rouge Chapter president and managing partner of City Group Hospitality. “Reception for this event has been great. It’s been really popular.
A few hundred attendees are expected, he says. The venue can accommodate up to 500.
Dozens of Oktoberfests take place across the country, including well-known Southern gatherings in Fredericksburg, Texas, and Helen, Georgia. The Greater Baton Rouge Chapter of the LRA launched its version in 2021, giving locals another gastro-centric fall event.
Proceeds help fund the LRA’s ProStart program, a high school-based job training initiative for teens interested in hospitality careers. It is a much-needed labor pipeline for restaurants, Hightower says.
ProStart participants will host their own tasting booths at the event, he adds.
“Along with local chefs, we’ll have schools out there,” Hightower says. “Students will be cooking and showing off their skills.”
Baton Rouge Oktoberfest
Sept. 29
Live Oak @ Cedar Lodge
6300 Jefferson Highway
This article was originally published in the September 2024 issue of 225 Magazine.