Opening Day Of Oktoberfest Excites Tulsans

Thursday marked the opening night of Oktoberfest at River West Festival Park. The German festival promises days of activities.

Oktoberfest brings a little piece of Munich to Tulsa, including food, music, and German beer.

“Just look around”, Oktoberfest Incorporated’s Mike Dodson said. “There’s a great combination of you know being out here with family and friends first and foremost.”

Vendors offer authentic German food, beer, and music from live bands. 

“Enjoying music, enjoying good food, and drink and doing so in great Oklahoma weather,” Dodson said. 

Many people dress up to get the full immersive experience, but it’s not a requirement. 

“No, you don’t have to dress up, but that’s part of the fun, you know, lederhosen and dirndls,” Dodson said. 

“You don’t have to go all out if you’re not in a performance. It’s still kind of warm, but I mean grab a chicken hat, grab a felt hat, get a dirndl. Everybody loves a good dirndl,” said an Oktoberfest volunteer who goes by the name “Uncle Gary.”

The festival made some improvements to the aesthetics to make guests feel like they’re closer to Munich than in prior years.

“We made additional investments in some of the infrastructure out here so people may notice some of the food booths that we have, have a more authentic look, more alpine in nature, which you might see in Munich, other festivals in Germany,” Dodson said.

Cody Due is visiting for his second year and says his food cravings from last year’s festival brought him back.

“The food is really good. I haven’t had any yet this year. Last year, I had some of that strudel, and it was probably one of the better things at the festival,” Due said.

Oktoberfest runs through Sunday, with free admission on Friday from 11 to 4.

Keep in mind that there is no parking at Oktoberfest, but you can take a free shuttle.

We've highlighted several spots where you can catch the shuttle.

The stops on the left side run about every 20 minutes, while the ones on the right run about every 30 minutes.

Those shuttles start running half an hour before Oktoberfest opens and continue until everyone is gone.