Image: The Kraftig girls hand out beer samples to festivalgoers at the Kemah Oktoberfest. Photo by The Signal reporter Jaclynn Abatecola — The Kraftig girls hand out beer samples to festivalgoers at the Kemah Oktoberfest. Photo by The Signal reporter Jaclynn Abatecola

Kemah celebrates Oktoberfest

By Jaclynn Abatecola Last updated Dec 1, 2015 157 0

The Kraftig girls hand out beer samples to festivalgoers at the Kemah Oktoberfest. Photo by The Signal Reporter Jaclynn Abatecola — The Kraftig girls hand out beer samples to festivalgoers at the Kemah Oktoberfest. *Photo by The Signal Reporter Jaclynn Abatecola.*

The third Annual Kemah Oktoberfest was held near the Kemah Boardwalk in the Kemah City parking lot Oct. 9 through Oct. 11. Hosted by Gulf Coast Festivals, the three-day event offered all things German including music, food, beer, craft and retail vendors.

The festival not only offered fun for people of all ages but was also affordable with an $8 admission price for adults, letting all children under the age of 12 in free.

Many guests celebrated German tradition by dressing up in clothing such as lederhosen and dirndls.

The band Enzian Buam played for guests on Saturday at the Kemah Oktoberfest. Photo by The Signal reporter Jaclynn Abatecola. — The band Enzian Buam played for guests on Saturday at the Kemah Oktoberfest. *Photo by The Signal reporter Jaclynn Abatecola.*

Beer enthusiasts were kept happy with 11 different craft beers to fill their beer steins in the largest beer tent in Texas. Beer sponsors included top names such as Shock Top, Karbach Brewing Company, Goose Island, Southern Star Brewing Company, St. Arnolds Brewing Company and more. The tent, which was over 9,000 square feet, included a large bar, a stage for the musical guests and plenty of tables for guests to relax and cool off while they enjoyed their beer.

A large variety of companies occupied over twenty vendor stands representing everything from Scentsy, for candles and warmers, to Texas Beer Bus, which offered festivalgoers an opportunity to get information and sign up for several different brewery tours in the Houston area, and even insurance registration booths like Allstate.

James Tooley, executive agent for Allstate Insurance, manned the Allstate booth this year.

“We love the exposure to our local community,” Tooley said. “It’s great to be able to market where you live and work at the same time.”

Kemah’s Oktoberfest also offered a large variety of food stands that were open all day. For those who wanted to keep the German theme going, Kings Biergarten offered plenty of authentic German food options including brezels, schnitzel and just about every type of wurst imaginable. Other food stands offered menu items that included Cajun food, crepes by crepe crazy, philly cheese steaks and several different barbeque stands to ensure guests did not leave hungry.

Dave and Cassady Baxter stand in front of their booth filled with their tie-dyed art. Photo The Signal reporter Jaclynn Abatecola. — Dave and Cassady Baxter stand in front of their booth filled with their tie-dyed art. *Photo by The Signal reporter Jaclynn Abatecola.*

Music performances by German polka and country music bands set the mood and entertained guests throughout the weekend. Authentic German bands included Enzian Buam and Das Ist Lustig, a biergarten variety band. Country music bands Breelan Angel and Jarrod Sterrett and the Hired Guns kept the crowd going on Friday and Saturday. Finally, guests danced and sang along to this year’s special guest and headliner Eddy Raven, a country music artist.

Dave and Cassady Baxter, father and son owners of We Are the Dyes of the World, came all the way from Dawsonville, Ga., to set up their booth of tie-dyed shirts, dresses, Turkish towels and even yoga mat bags.

“It is very nice to be able to enjoy the music while we work,” Dave Baxter said. “The bands have been authentic as you can get, and the crowds are great.”

For more information on upcoming Gulf Coast Festivals events, visit www.gulfcoastfestivals.com