Oktoberfest in Illinois 2024
Have you made your plans to enjoy beer and brats in 2024 at an Oktoberfest in Illinois already? If not, get your calendar out and ask your friends as there are plenty of options to visit a German beer festival in your local community or travel into the city for a Chicago Oktoberfest.
2024 was a great year for Oktoberfest! We'll be back with more next year.
Looks like plenty of great Oktoberfest parties running all the way up to November to enjoy, so Prost!
All events showing current dates need to be verified to confirm that changes to the schedule were not made by the organizers after publication here. We do not run these events, and would hate for anyone to go out of their way only to find the event had been canceled after releasing a date. Please click through to the event website to confirm! Be safe and have a great fall!
2024 Events
German American Oktoberfest - Chicago, IL - Sep 6 to Sep 8, 2024
A parade, German hospitality, food and fun hosted by the United German-American Societies of Greater Chicago at Lincoln Square
Havana Oktoberfest - Havana, IL - Sep 6 to Sep 8, 2024
The Havana Chamber of Commerce presents its annuall Oktoberfest. 3 days of Beer, Brats, Music and fun!
German American Fest - Chicago, IL - Sep 6 to Sep 8, 2024
Three days and nights of German heritage fun with free admission. Not called an Oktoberfest but it does have all the festival foods, German music, singing and dancing, beverages, plus events you might expect from a big city event.
German American Heritage Center Oktoberfest - Frankfort, IL - Sep 6 to Sep 8, 2024
The German American Heritage Center invites you & your family to their Haus to celebrate Oktoberfest! Entertainment, including German music, split-the-pot raffles, vendors, German food & beer for purchase and a Kinder Area. $10 adult admission/FREE children under 18. Gates open at 2pm.
Glendale Heights Oktoberfest - Glendale Heights, IL - Sep 12 to Sep 22, 2024
Annual Glendale Heights Oktoberfest which will be held at Camera Park in Glendale Heights, Illinois. Experience live entertainment daily including strolling German “Oompah†entertainers in one of the most authentic festival tents. There will be a selection of German Beers and German Food. To round out the Glendale Heights Oktoberfest experience, there will be vendors with German products, souvenirs, hats, steins, and much much more.
Oaktoberfest Oak Park - Oak Park, IL - Sep 13 to Sep 14, 2024
Celebrate the changing seasons at Oaktoberfest! Enjoy a premier music line up, delicious fall foods, specialty craft beers, and a kids’ root beer garden! Free admission!
Downers Grove Oktoberfest - Downers Grove, IL - Sep 13 to Sep 14, 2024
Annual fundraiser for the Downers Grove Education Foundation, with live music, food, beer, children’s activities and more!
Tinley Oktoberfest - Tinley Park, IL - Sep 20 to Sep 22, 2024
Bring out the Lederhosen, grab a stein, and welcome autumn with traditional authentic food, oompah and polka, carnival, keg tapping and beer!
Palatine Oktoberfest - Palatine, IL - Sep 20 to Sep 22, 2024
Attendance is free at this Oktoberfest event under the big heated tent in downtown Palatine. Expect good food, good beer, good music, and lots of family friendly festival type things to do. Saturday is family day with special activities for the kids. Event is put on by the Rotary Club of Palatine as their principal fund raising event. Their support raises thousands of dollars for local charities. Opening ceremonies are at 5:00 pm on Friday. Saturday features their music and dance performances by youth groups and area choirs. Kids love the face painting, crafts and arts tables. Don’t miss Scarecrows on Parade.
Belleville Oktoberfest - Belleville, IL - Sep 20 to Sep 21, 2024
Three stages of live entertainment, German food, children’s area, weiner dog race, costume contest, cornhole tournament, car show and more!
Peoria Oktoberfest - Peoria, IL - Sep 20 to Sep 22, 2024
The German American Central Society and the Peoria Park District are sponsoring once again the Peoria Oktoberfest to promote German culture and heritage of Central Illinois! Additional Activities: A German Heritage Tent display with a genealogy search will be available. Also, a Puppet Theatre, the Peoria Volkstaenzers, Log Sawing, and various contests such as the Masskrugstemmen (arm strength contest with filled steins) will be featured. Vendors with authentic German clothing and merchandise as well as other items will be available for purchase. Children’s activities are also scheduled. Several carnival rides will be available, including a merry- go-round. Both German and American foods will be available. Complete German dinners will be available in the main tent. German beers will be featured including Spaten Oktoberfest, along with German Wines from our Weinstube and German spirits in the Knappe. Domestic beers also.
Mount Prospect Oktoberfest - Mount Prospect, IL - Sep 20 to Sep 22, 2024
American Aid Society of German Descendants Oktoberfest - Lake Villa, IL - Sep 21 to Oct 5, 2024
Three separate Saturdays of Oktoberfest and live music starting at 6:30 pm.
Shorewood OktoBREWfest - Shorewood, IL - Sep 21, 2024
Throughout the day there is traditional German fare, German music, Masskrugstemmen contests, and more! Families welcome from 4:00-8:00 pm then it’s 21+ from 8:00 pm on! Cash only.
Chicago Gourmet - Chicago, IL - Sep 21 to Sep 29, 2024
Celebrate food and wine in downtown Chicago with this Bon Appetit event featuring more than 100 wineries, breweries and spirit makers as well as more than 150 top restaurants and chefs.
Two Brothers Oktoberfest - Aurora, IL - Sep 22 to Sep 28, 2024
The official Oktoberfest celebration will be held at the Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora, with the Tap House the following weekend. Enjoy a beer stein while eating authentic German food and playing classic Oktoberfest games! Free admission
Manteno Oktoberfest - Manteno, IL - Sep 26 to Sep 29, 2024
A four day festival attended by approximately 10,000, this annual Oktoberfest is hosted by the Manteno Chamber of Commerce. Beer garden with stage offering live music. Carnival including ferris wheel and amusement rides on Main Street. Bike Night, Lighted Parade (Saturday), pet parade, grass volleyball tournament, bean bag tournament and scarecrow contest for residents of Manteno. Also a lawnmower poker run, car show and performances by Dance Alive! Dance Studio. There are also garage sales in conjunction with the event, map available two weeks prior.
German Society of Rockford Oktoberfest - Loves Park, IL - Sep 28, 2024
Annual festival with German food and beer. Chicken dance, Miss Oktoberfest contest, bier barrel race, running of the wieners, yodeling contest and barmaid stein race. Menu options include potato pancakes, bratwurst, schnitzel, sauerkraut and more. Advance two-day entry tickets are $14. Gate tickets are $10 per day. VIP party tickets available. It will be located at Loves Park City Hall in Loves Park, IL.
Rotary Club of Quincy Oktoberfest - Quincy, IL - Sep 28, 2024
Free admission and celebration of Quincy own German breweries. Visit Dick Brother brewery, enjoy live entertainment, dance in the streets, and lots of brats and food to eat.
Naperville Oktoberfest - Naperville, IL - Oct 4 to Oct 5, 2024
Live music (from German Oompa to classic rock), German beer and food. Family friendly activities on Saturday from noon to 4 PM. Saturday admission also includes tour of Naper Settlement. Free for Naper Settlement Members. Enter through the Pre-Emption House Visitor Center. Proceeds benefit the Naperville Heritage Society. Location: 523 S. Webster St., Naperville, IL 60540
Galena Oktoberfest - Galena, IL - Oct 5, 2024
Annual Oktoberfest from noon to 10 PM with ceremonial keg tapping, live music, polka lessons and dancing, bean bag tournament, beer stein endurance contest, wiener dog races. Kids entertainment includes bounce house and pumpkin decorating. Admission is $5 for 13+. Kids 12 and under accompanied by an adult are free. Location: Depot Park (Highway 20 and Park Avenue), Galena, Illinois
Maeystown Oktoberfest - Maeystown, IL - Oct 6, 2024
Second Sunday in October. Featuring arts, crafts, antiques and food from 9:00-4:00 p.m. at the area around the stone mill and bridge. More than 60 artisans, crafters, dealers, and numerous food stands will be featured. Arts and crafts will include rug weaving, felting, blacksmithing, photography, woodworking, and a country store. Food will include turtle soup, potato pancakes and popcorn cooked in old-fashioned kettles. Bratwurst, funnel cakes, apple butter, and pies will be some of the other choices available. The village specialty shops, bed & breakfast, restaurants and museum will be open throughout the day.
St. Mary’s Oktoberfest - Alton, IL - Oct 11 to Oct 13, 2024
Live music, games and silent auction. Keg tapping ceremony at 1 PM on Saturday. Beer from Warsteiner, Spaten, Paulaner and more. German and American food, too!
Friendship Center Oktoberfest - Chicago, IL - Oct 12 to Oct 13, 2024
Food trucks, live music, and of course, lots of beer, as a fundraiser for the Friendship Center to feed the hungry of Chicagoland
If you’ve attended all of these festivals, you can always check out the list of the celebrations in surrounding states: Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin.
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Past Events
C-U Oktoberfest - Champaign, IL - Sep 30, 2023
The C-U Oktoberfest is a fall celebration of music, beer, and food held in downtown Champaign. Patterned after the annual festival in Bavaria, the C-U Oktoberfest features live music from bands playing festive polkas, waltzes, and traditional German music…mixed in with plenty of your favorite songs. Beer from local brewers and a selection of German beers will be served. Party-goers are encouraged to get in the spirit by wearing their best dirndl or lederhosen (or come as they are) and dance the night away!
Oktoberfest Chicago - Chicago, IL - Sep 22 to Sep 24, 2023
Featuring handmade bratwurst, cold beer and authentic German music, this popular Chicago Oktoberfest hosted by St. Alphonsus Church. Received a 10Best Reader’s Choice Award from USA Today in 2015. Adult admission is $5-10.
Itasca Oktoberfest - Itasca, IL - Sep 8 to Sep 10, 2023
A free Oktoberfest on Orchard Street. It runs until 11:00 pm both nights.
Platzkonzert Germanfest - Hoffman Estates, IL - Sep 8 to Sep 10, 2023
The free Kinderplatz children’s area will be open on Saturday afternoon. Located in the Village Green once more, event entry remains free. All music will be performed inside the big Oompah tent.
Revolution Oktoberfest - Chicago, IL - Sep 23 to Sep 24, 2022
Head to Revolution Brewing’s Taproom for a fun day of games, contests, music, food, and of course — German beer!
Jacksonville Rotary Oktoberfest - Jacksonville, IL - Sep 17, 2022
The Annual Jacksonville Rotary Club Oktoberfest, held at the Morgan County Fairgrounds, features German music all day long, plus German food, wiener dog race, German pet parade, beer and wine tasting, bags and washers tournaments, games all day and of course Beer.
OktoberWest - Itasca, IL - Sep 10, 2022
Celebrate the unofficial beginning of autumn with the annual international OktoberWest train crawl, coming to the Milwaukee West line. Go around the world, no passport required! With five bars ending at a German Oktoberfest street festival, it’s one of their most popular crawls.
Cafe 20 Oktoberfest - Marengo, IL - Sep 7 to Sep 11, 2022
15th annual. Authentic celebration with live music and German food and bier. Location: 756 Grant Highway, Marengo, Illinois.
Sullivan Oktoberfest - Sullivan, IL - Oct 22 to Oct 31, 2021
Includes beer tent, chili cook-off, 5K, Artoberfest & Wine Tasting, and free entertainment.
Oathtoberfest - Naperville, IL - Oct 9, 2021
Solemn Oath Brewing hosts an Oktoberfest Celebration with Wurst Kitchen. Food, music, and of course, beer!
Ottawa Oktoberfest - Ottawa, IL - Sep 17, 2021
Oktoberfest will be held in downtown Ottawa for participants 21 and over. There will be live German music, German food, German beer and wine.
Coal City Octoberfest - Coal City, IL - Oct 5, 2019
Annual event from 9 to 4 pm on South Broadway Street
We hope you enjoy these celebrations of Oktoberfest. Let us know below which one you've headed to and which one you like the best!
We have added maps with the locations of each Oktoberfest. We may not have had the exact location for each Oktoberfest so in some instances we have placed the marker in the general vicinity of the Oktoberfest. Be sure to get specific directions from another source and do not solely rely on our map at the moment. We have also noticed that the markers may not show up on some mobile browsers. We will work to sort out this bug in the future.
Please confirm dates, locations and activities available at the Oktoberfest before going. That's one reason that we provide a website address when we find one. We attempt to ensure that the information for each Oktoberfest is accurate but there are bound to be a few errors. If you let us know when you find one, we will fix it. In some cases, we may link to last year's event when information for this year is not yet available. Do not be fooled.
The festivals listed range in size. Some events may have hundreds of thousands of attendees. Others may have only a handful. We're sorry that we don't have more information about attendance numbers at the moment. We will do our best to add this information as time goes on.
Professionalism varies as well. Some Oktoberfests are professional operations with large budgets. Others are local operations run by volunteers. Do your due diligence before making plans to attend so that you know what to expect. We will happily publish information about your experience with any Oktoberfest so that our visitors will be better informed in the future.
Some Oktoberfests are more family friendly than others. If you have small children, look for an Oktoberfest that has activities for kids. Other events start out with family friendly activities and become more adult oriented as it becomes later in the evening.
Not all Oktoberfest celebrations will be authentic German festival experiences. Some may simply be an excuse to drink rather than celebrate German heritage. Some may call themselves Oktoberfest but provide local or seasonal beer rather than authentic German Oktoberfest beer. Be sure to consider the type of celebration that you are looking to attend when you pick your Oktoberfest.
Activities offered at each Oktoberfest varies. Some activities that you may find are parades, keg tapping ceremony, beer gardens, Miss Oktoberfest or costume contests, stein holding contests, bratwurst eating contest, chicken dance, wiener races, keg toss, live German bands and local entertainment, polka dancing and fairground games. Some Oktoberfest events will just have beer and brats.
Please don't drink and drive. We want everyone to get home safe. Use a designated driver or take public transportation. Uber and Lyft often offer ride credits for new users.
We've got some other resources that would help you prepare for Oktoberfest as well. Read about the history of Oktoberfest. Learn about Oktoberfest beer. Find the words to Oktoberfest music. Plan your Oktoberfest outfit. And try cooking some of these Oktoberfest recipes.
Do you run one of the Oktoberfests listed? Feel free to send us additional information and we will add it. We apologize for any errors: send us corrections or updates if you find them! We also love to list new Oktoberfests, and have advertising solutions if you'd like to reach a wider audience.
Find other fun things to do in Illinois in fall:
Illinois Festivals
Illinois Corn Mazes
Illinois Ghost Tours
Illinois Corn Mazes
Haunted Houses in Illinois
Illinois Pumpkin Patches
ya know there are cities in Illinois that are NOT near Chicago!!! none listed!!!!!!
You caught me. As I grew up in Michigan, I have an intense hatred of all cities in Illinois not near Chicago and it manifested itself on this list. I apologize. If you find an Oktoberfest I’m missing, I will do my best to overcome my deep prejudice and add it here.
We’d love for you to add us to your list for 2013!
We’ll be having the German Society of Rockford’s Oktoberfest Friday, Sept 27 and Sat., Sept 28, 2013 at Loves Park City Hall in Loves Park, IL.
The Jacksonville rotary club will be holding its 3rd annual Oktoberfest on October 5, 2013 at the Morgan county fairgrounds in Jacksonville il. German beer, music and unique German food along with games and a wiener dog race.
Hi – There are at least 3 more Oktoberfests I know of in Chicago:
Sept.5-6 weekend =
Octoberfest in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood: Western, just south of Lawrence http://www.germanday.com/program_of_events.html &
Itasca’s Octoberfest itasca.com &
Sept 19-21=Palatine,IL Octoberfest http://www.palatinerotary.com/Oktoberfest.php .
I look forward to your list every year now, Thanks for putting it together!
The McHenry Sunrise Rotary club is hosting an Oktoberfest on Oct 24th from 6pm to 11 pm.
If you like BEER, the place to be is McHenry Sunrise Rotary’s OKTOBERFEST on Friday, October 24th, at the McHenry VFW Post #4600 from 6 – 11 p.m. An impressive variety of purveyors will be there to talk beer and offer tastings of their brews. Every admission will include a commemorative event mug on a lanyard, one free sausage with fresh chips provided by the VFW, and unlimited beer sampling during the event. Raffles and other fundraising activities will be available during the event, so bring plenty of greenbacks as all proceeds will benefit the charitable giving of the McHenry Sunrise Rotary Club. Like our page on Facebook to learn what we do for the benefit of our community.
For more information please visit http://www.rotary-oktoberfest.com
Can you please tell me why in Illinois Octoberfest is celebrated in August instead of October ?
Thank-you.
The lineup of fall festivals is pretty crowded. There’s a few organizations around the country which have pushed them into August in order to cater to patrons who would otherwise go to other events. If Oktoberfest can be celebrated in September in Munich, why not August? Like pumpkin beers, it is tough to stop seasonal creep.
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