Oktoberfest Opens with Keg Tap and Toast

Dick Yuengling, president of D.G. Yuengling & Sons, tapped a wooden keg and offered a hearty toast as the first-ever Oktoberfest at SteelStacks got under way on Thursday night.

Yuengling, who is the festival's primary sponsor, was joined at the wooden keg by Mayor John Callahan and ArtsQuest President Jeff Parks for the toast. The beer was Yuengling Oktoberfest, a new brew made especially for the festival.

The festival will run until Sunday and again next weekend, from October 6 to 9 -- eight days in total. It will feature food, fun, music, games and beer -- all in the spirit of a traditional German fall harvest festival.

At 12:30 p.m. Saturday, there will be an Oktoberfest Shaustellung, or parade, along the streets of South Bethlehem as part of the celebration. The procession, which will begin at Second Street and Founders Way, will travel north on Founders Way and west on First Street before entering the Oktoberfest grounds at Spielplatz, where the crowd will gather for an Oktoberfest toast. Leading the procession will be Yuengling riding in a horse-drawn wooden Yuengling wagon.

Also in the Shaustellung will be the 40,000-pound Yuengling beer truck that will be used in the Oktoberfest Truck Pull Competition Oct. 8; Minis by Mini of Allentown, the Bethlehem Police Department color guard and the Liberty High School Grenadier Marching Band.

On Sundays, October 2 and 9, the first 125 people age 21 and older who pass through the festival gates will be given a special wristband to attend a free beer tasting event featuring D.G. Yuengling & Sons Inc.‘s Jennifer Yuengling.

During the event, set for 12:30-1:30 p.m., Yuengling will talk about Yuengling’s various beers, including the new Oktoberfest brew. She will also answer guests’ questions related to beers and the brewing process. Beers that will be available to sample include all of Yuengling’s products, as well Hofbrau from Germany and Saranac Pumpkin Ale.