Twin Cities Oktoberfest was thrilled to have celebrated the 15th anniversary of our event in 2025! As always, it took place in the heart of the Twin Cities at the Historic Progress Center on the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. Like years’ past, our event is 100% local – that includes all beer, food, music, merchandise and other entertainment. We were happy to have a few returning and NEW beer/cider sponsors – Utepils Brewing, Pryes Brewing Company, Bruhaven Craft Co., Lift Bridge Brewing Company, and Minneapolis Cider Company. Our food offerings in 2025 include Gerhard’s Brats, traditional German pretzels from Aki’s Breadhaus, savory and sweet pies from Sara’s Tipsy Pies, candied bacon from Big Guy’s BBQ and Christel’s Bavarian Kitchen! For traditional Oktoberfest music, we had three terrific bands – Alpensterne, Bavarian Musikmeisters, and the Josh Norman Musik Meisters . We also had back the world renowned and the #1 North American German dancing troupe, SG Edelweiss, as well as a couple of fun cover bands, The Stand Ups and Coyote Wild . We also hadsome terrific music in our tent this year, with Grunge Unplugged playing, along with ELEVAN and Cornell Power Service.  Many tried their hand-eye coordination with Nice Axe.  Many entered our stein holding competitions over the 2-day event and we offered Men’s and Ladies’ divisions, and ALL proceeds went to charity. 

Now for the fun stuff – details! Please see below for more information regarding our sponsors, beer and food offerings, shopping, health and safety protocols and other misc. items.

Sponsors

Utepils Brewing based in Minneapolis, MN

Pryes Brewing Company, Minneapolis, MN

Bruhaven Craft Company, Minneapolis, MN

Lift Bridge Brewing Company, Stillwater, MN and New Richmond, WI

Minneapolis Cider Co., Minneapolis, MN

Public Lands (Stage Sponsor)

Beer

The above beer and cider companies will provide a total of 20 different beers/ciders. You can expect multiple Marzen-style varieties, Pilsner, Kolsch, Hefeweizen and many more!

Food (options below subject to change)

We do our best to provide you the most authentic local German food. Gerhard’s Brats will have multiple varieties of authentic brats and German potato salad. Aki’s Breadhaus out of NE Minneapolis will make a variety of soft pretzels and dipping sauces. Big Guy’s promises to please your taste buds with some candied bacon and chicken thigh sandwiches and Sara’s Tipsy Pies brings her sweet and savory pies to Oktoberfest every year. We have added NEW German food options with Christel’s Bavarian Kitchen and Jesse’s Spaetzle, plus we terrific offerings from OG Zaza Pizza Trailer and Simply Nuts & More.

We once again we welcomed back the most traditional German clothes and collectibles dealer in the Midwest, German Specialty Imports. She had the finest lederhosen and dirndls you can find this side of the big pond. Hagen and Oats and Made in Minn returned in 2025. All of these are fantastic local merchandise vendors.

Rules and Regulations

Our Oktoberfest is an all-ages event, but state law requires you to be 21 years of age or older to drink alcohol. Be prepared to show your state- or federally-issued ID when purchasing alcohol. We reserve the right to stop serving you if deemed you have had enough to drink.

Pets are not allowed, but registered service dogs are.

Both cash and credit cards (fees apply on all credit purchases), plus Apple and Google Pay, are accepted for purchasing entrance and beer tickets. We will also have cash machines on site.