OKTOBERFEST at Chicago’s biggest celebration, St. Alphonsus in Lakeview! Prost!

Zicke, Zacke, Zicke, Zacke, hoi hoi hoi!!

Break out your dirndls and lederhosen, it’s beer season! (Just kidding, you don’t really have to wear lederhosen.)

Let’s go to the biggest Oktoberfest in Chicago, St. Alphonsus! Yes, it’s in a church, I know, weird. But yes there is plenty of beer, it has been a Chicago tradition for 20-something years! It also spills out into the street, and there are usually around 5k people in attendance. Tons of bands on several different stages, (you can view the lineup at https://www.stalsoktoberfest.com/.)

https://youtu.be/BRpKViIMTTs?si=SP2tC1W1aCNQBIaz for a sample of the festivities, lots of pics of past years’ events on the website as well as on Yelp.

I thought we would meet up somewhere before the festival so that we can all find each other, and then go see the band Hello Weekend (per their website, cover band that plays anything from Gaga to Guns ‘n’ Roses!) and then see where the night takes us! There is also an ABBA tribute band playing after that, they are great and put on a great show, they have a huge local following. There are also Polka and German bands and from my experience, those are pretty interactive and lively. There are brats (supposed to be good!) and pretzels and probably other food vendors as well. There is supposed to be a craft beer tasting (German and American) in a beer hall as well, but I have yet to find info on this for this year.

Let’s meet at Southport Betty’s (it is listed under Diag Bar above because it is a new name—same location) and grab a drink (or food if you like) and then head over to the festivities! Google says it’s a two minute walk.
Admission to Oktoberfest is $10.
The Hello Weekend band starts at 5:45, so that should give us plenty of time.

(There are also other activities on Fri and earlier on Sat, so if you decide to get there earlier, just text 417-622-7994 or 918-728-9750 or put a comment on here so we can meet you out!) Also feel free to text either number (myself or Mark) if you have trouble finding us!

Feel free to come alone or bring friends, let’s all meet some new people, make new friends! We have lived here for two years and STILL have not made it to this yet, pretty excited!! :)