The City of Crown Point reeled the community into Bulldog Park for their 16th annual Oktoberfest celebration. From 12 p.m. until 10 p.m., the venue was filled with entertainment and plenty of vendors throughout the entire festival.
Diana Bosse, special events director for the City of Crown Point, has been pleased with how this traditional event has continued to expand in this community.
“Oktoberfest started back in 2008 and it's really grown over the years,” Bosse said. “It started out in the parking lot over at Strack & Van Til. We've also had it up on the square for a few years and now it's here at Bulldog Park. It's a great end to the fall season before we start the ice rink.”
It takes a lot of helping hands to make the Oktoberfest celebration a success every year. Bosse appreciates the support they have from local businesses and breweries, who participate as vendors annually, to ensure the event only gets better every year.
“We try really hard to showcase our business and give them an opportunity to be here,” Bosse said. “The community gets to check out a lot of vendors that they might have never seen or checked out before. It’s nice for us to see these vendors do well and possibly reach a new audience. We’re focused on building relationships with the vendors, bands, and everyone that walks through the gate to spend this evening with us.”
Performances from a polka band, Ed Wagner’s Brass Band, and Party Foul gave people an opportunity to dance and listen to energizing music throughout the entire evening.
There are a lot of returning vendors from previous years participating in this year's event. However, the City of Crown Point also strives to bring in some businesses that haven’t gotten this opportunity in the past.
Vendors at this year's event include: Aloha Glow, Annie’s Kettle Creations, Battista’s Artisan Pizzeria, Bedarra Bar, Carriage Court Pizza, Countryside Sweet N Sizzlin’, Daily Grind Coffee, Great Harvest Northwest Indiana, Izzy’s, Jax’s Crown Town Grill, Kevin’s Pretzel Factory, MamaFrazz, One13North Kitchen & Bar, Prime Steakhouse, Provecho Latin Provisions, Skin Colour Events, Sweet & Savory Delights, Tacos Chel and Twisted Sugar.
“We’ve brought together a wide variety of vendors and different activities for the kids this year,” Bosse said. “Oktoberfest focuses on a lot of German-style food, so we’ve asked all of our vendors to have something in that theme. There’s something different at every booth and everybody can listen to our bands on the lawn. We have bean bags, hot potato, and many other games for people to play as well. The community really gravitates towards this event because there’s so much going on.”
One attendee who couldn’t wait for this annual event was Bridgette Elliott. She came with her family to celebrate one of the last warm Saturdays of the year.
“We really want to come out here and check everything out,” Elliott said. “It’s important to have events like this in our community because it really brings people together with great food and entertainment.”
Meghan Urban, team member at Countryside Sweet N Sizzlin’, always looks forward to building relationships with the local residents.
“It means a lot for us to participate in this event and promote what we have,” Urban said. “We love being able to meet all these new people and make connections within our local community.”
Countryside Sweet N Sizzlin’ was one of the vendors at last year’s event. Urban is grateful that the City of Crown Point invited them once again to the Oktoberfest celebration.
“My favorite part is being able to see how excited everyone gets to come together at events like this one,” Urban said. “Even as vendors, we’re able to connect with people from other businesses. We’re thankful to be invited to celebrate at this event for another year.”
For more information on the City of Crown Point, you can visit their website.
