Oktoberfest by the Bay: An Expensive Good Time

By Vida Vongvanith
Associate Editor

Good times, lederhosen, chicken dances, bratwursts, weisswursts and wiener schnitzels, and best of all, BEER. Oktoberfest by the Bay was definitely a great party worth its hype, but I’m not entirely sure it was worth the price. For a $35 Saturday night admission, you’d think that you would get a little more than a bright orange wristband as a souvenir. Maybe, call me crazy, some beer?

The atmosphere was great, and for a UCSF student living at Mission Bay, the location was superb. This year’s Oktoberfest was hosted at Pier 48, just a 10 minute stumble away from Mission Bay housing. The minute you enter and see the enormous lines for tokens, you disappointingly realize that beer doesn’t come cheap. A small cup cost three tokens ($6) and a large one will run you five tokens ($10). How large is a large? 0.5 liters. The best bet was to bring your own GIANT stein/boot/beer receptacle and get it filled (multiple times) to the 1 or 1.5 liter brim for six tokens ($12). The prices are steep but after a couple of swigs from your stein, the memory of how much you’re spending fades into the background … and into the foreground crystallizes the pulsing Oompah music (headlined by the Chico Bavarian Band), the aroma of sizzling bratwurst, and the mass of smiling, laughing, chicken-dancing San Franciscans.

The event itself was pretty well organized and there was plenty of room for everyone to have a good time without feeling claustrophobic. The food was pricey but good, the desserts were tasty (especially the apple strudel), the German beer was cold and on tap, and the porta potty lines were bearable. Everyone at the event seemed to be having a great time and you really couldn’t help but get into the mood. The folk-dancing and traditional music along with the booths selling German crafts, snacks, and instruments really brought an air of authenticity to the event – or at least made it feel less like one giant kegger and more like an actual festival. That being said, there could have been a little more interactivity besides the dancing and drinking, eating and sitting – but really, not too bad for a warehouse next to AT&T Ball Park. And the guy who makes balloon animals at UCSF was even there making giant beer mug balloon hats for those really in the spirit(s).

Oktoberfest by the Bay was definitely a great party and going with a good group of friends with a hearty appreciation for beer and fun makes all the difference. But if I go next year, I will definitely be looking for a cheaper day or using a couple of 2-for-1 coupons because if you save a couple bucks on admission, you have a lot more money left over for beer.

Vida Vongvanith is a third-year pharmacy student.

This article appeared in the October 8, 2009 issue of Synapse.