The smell of brats and pretzels and the sound of local bands filled South Pearl Street Saturday as the city celebrated German culture — and beer.
The South Pearl Street Association, with help from the Platt Park Brewing, held its second annual Oktoberfest celebration on Saturday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., honoring all things German culture with German cuisine, 11 local breweries, live music, costume contests and other family-friendly activities.
“South Pearl Street is a great neighborhood,” Aiden Holt, the event manager for the South Pearl Street Association, said. “We already have the biggest farmers market in Colorado every Sunday for half of the year. People know the street because of that. That’s why we decided to expand our festivities a little bit and add Oktoberfest.”
The first year was such a success, the festival sold out of beer, Holt said.
Initially, Oktoberfest is a festival held in Munich, Germany, every year on the last two weeks of September. The first celebration dates to 1810, when Germans celebrated the marriage of the crown prince of Bavaria, who later became King Louis I, to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.