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The RGV German Club’s Oktoberfest returns to Brownsville this Saturday after taking three years off due to the pandemic.
The beer, bratwurst and lederhosen we will be back, though instead of the Texas Southmost College campus this year, Oktoberfest is being held at a different venue, the recently remodeled 1848 BBQ at 5 Avalon, just across Palm Boulevard from Prax Orive Jr./Sunrise Park.
Doors open at 3 p.m. on Saturday and the party officially gets underway at 5 p.m. with the traditional opening of the keg, the honor to be carried out by City Commissioner/Mayor Pro Tem Linda Macias, and continues through 10 p.m. with live music, German performances, dances, costumes and so on.
Arno Forst, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley accounting associate professor and faculty advisor to the German Club, explained this year’s move to 1848.
“They just remodeled the business and built a large beer garden outside,” he said. “It’s a joint venture because they’d kind of like to introduce their new venue to the public. It helps us both I think. It makes it a little easier for us. At TSC we had to do everything. We had to get the alcohol permits. We had to get the food permits.”
Working with an established eatery/watering hole makes it easier for the German Club to resurrect Oktoberfest, though the goal at some point is to go it alone again, which generates more money to benefit students — the whole point of the event besides drinking beer, having a good time and serving people a slice of German culture, Forst said.
The club’s first Oktoberfest, in 2017, was a collaboration with Cobbleheads, though 2018 and 2019 were freestanding events, and would have continued that way but for the pandemic, which forced the cancellation of Oktoberfest 2020 and 2021.
“Last year we could have but to be honest we didn’t quite have the club to do it,” Forst said. “As a student organization, after two years everybody graduates. So after two years of COVID we really had to rebuild the organization. But now we are back to 40 members and have the muscle to have the festival again.”
Tickets are $25 and include one starter German beer and a plate of food. In addition to 1848’s usual sudsy offerings, three varieties of German beer will be on tap at 1848 at $5 a pint and $10 a liter. Rockstar Denied is the featured performer, book-ended by a DJ. There will be games and all kinds of activities, Forst said, noting that while Oktoberfest winds down at 10 p.m., 1848 will keep the taps flowing until midnight.
He said people come from outside Brownsville for Oktoberfest, and that the German Club is making every effort to give attendees the real deal.
“We have been trying to bring the most authentic German experience of an Oktoberfest to the Valley,” Forst said. “I’ve been to other Oktoberfests and they are completely American — no German music, no German decorations, no German costumes. In the end it’s having a party for a cause, because it does support language education and student scholarships.”
Michael Limas, co-owner of 1848, said Oktoberfest promotes his business and the German Club simultaneously, and that he’s happy to be able to provide a platform for the event.
“Arno and I have known each other for a few years, and once the beer garden concept was coming I thought it was a natural fit for us to collaborate,” he said. “It’s been a great relationship so far. We’re both kind of helping each other out, and there seems to be some really good momentum for the event on Saturday. I think we’re expecting maybe 250 people.”
