Oktoberfest in Michigan 2024

There are numerous options available in September and October 2024 for Great Lakes residents to celebrate Oktoberfest in Michigan. Make the trip southeast of Saginaw to Michigan’s Little Bavaria to enjoy the Frankenmuth Oktoberfest, or enjoy the local communities, restaurants and breweries hosting German festivals in Detroit, Lansing and throughout the rest of the state. With more than two million residents claiming German heritage, it should come as no surprise that there is lots of German beer and bratwurst consumed in the fall here.

Last Major Update:

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

Batch Brauerei Oktoberfest - Detroit, MI - Sep 13 to Sep 15, 2024
Live music, food, and a line-up full of German-inspired beers

Frankenmuth Oktoberfest - Frankenmuth, MI - Sep 19 to Sep 22, 2024
Growing up in Metro Detroit, we always made an annual trip to Frankenmuth in the fall to enjoy the German food in in Michigan’s Little Bavaria. This is the only Oktoberfest outside of Munich to be sanctioned by them. The annual event will have live music from German bands, polka dancing and wiener dog races at the Harvey Kern Community Pavilion. The festivities kick off on Thursday night at 3 PM. Organizers generally expect between 8,000 and 10,000 to be there over the course of the weekend. Adult admission is $10 with no charge on Sunday.

Saline Harvest of the Arts Oktoberfest - Saline, MI - Sep 20 to Sep 21, 2024
Live music, German food and beer, and lots of fun

Bloomingdale Oktoberfest - Bloomingdale, MI - Sep 21, 2024
A small town Festival held annually in downtown Bloomingdale, MI with plenty of family fun activities!

St Joseph Oktoberfest - Detroit, MI - Sep 21 to Sep 22, 2024
Fun for the whole family! Live Bavarian music & dancers, German dinner & sausages, imported Bavarian beer, steinhoisting, games, and much more.

Dakota Inn Oktoberfest - Detroit, MI - Sep 27 to Oct 26, 2024
The Dakota Inn Rathskeller kicks off this Detroit Oktoberfest on Friday with live music and imported German beer. They have German bands and polka dancing on Friday and Saturday nights throughout October. Bring your chicken hat or buy one at the door! Dakota Inn is an authentic German bar created by a Highland Park Ford factory worker in the 1930s in an old Chinese hand laundry. It is operated by the founder’s grandson and listed on the State Register of Historic Sites.

Oktoberfest Grand Rapids - Grand Rapids, MI - Sep 27 to Sep 28, 2024
Formerly Oktoberfest West Michigan, now Oktoberfest GR! The Edelweiss Club hosts this Grand Rapids Oktoberfest featuring Erdinger Beer, German food (and root beer for kids), German Bands and Alphorn players. Saturday children’s activities include a number of different inflatables for them to enjoy. Adult games include two person barrel roll, keg tossing or stein holding. Admission and parking are free.

Curtis Oktoberfest - Curtis, MI - Sep 28, 2024
Annual event. Hours: Noon to 8 PM. Includes live music, cornhole tourney, best dressed Bavarian contest, apple dessert and soup cook offs, and beer & wine tent with German inspired food. Brats and chicken dinners by 3 Lakes Fireworks Committee. Pie sale and soft pretzel sale as well.

Octoberfest Ludington - Ludington, MI - Sep 28, 2024
Craft Beer from Bell’s and Ludington Bay Brewing Co., a rocking stage, chili walk, lawn games and so much more make for fantastic fall weekend! There are plenty of family-friendly events as well.

Skitoberfest - Boyne Falls, MI - Oct 5, 2024
Skitoberfest celebrates the coming winter with everything from ski gear, craft beer, food trucks, live music and performers, chairlift rides, bonfires, and so much more. Held at Boyne Mountain.

Pentwater Oktoberfest - Pentwater, MI - Oct 12, 2024
An annual fall event since 1997. Friday night will have bingo at the VFW Hall and Comedy Night at Village Cafe & Pub. Saturday will have a number of events including classic car & hot rod show, chili cook-off, and Italian wine tasting. Pumpkin and face painting in the morning for kids. Games in the early afternoon include barrel race, Sprint for the Stein and egg toss. The entertainment tent will show both Michigan State and Michigan football. Polka dance contest, chicken dance contest and live music on Saturday evening. Events are located around Village Green, a park in downtown Pentwater located on the west side of Hancock (Main) Street.

You really don’t need to leave Michigan for a good Oktoberfest, but you might consider one of the ones in that state down south. Other nearby states with an Oktoberfest include Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Open this in UX Builder to add and edit content

Past Events

Fall Festein - Sault Ste Marie, MI - Sep 16, 2023
It’s time to break out the lederhosen for a fun night of beer, cider, mocktails, food, games, stein hoisting, costume contest, and prizes!

Wiltse’s Oktoberfest - Oscoda, MI - Oct 1, 2022
German food, German beer, live music, bonfires and strudel!

Carpathia Club Oktoberfest - Sterling Heights, MI - Sep 30 to Oct 1, 2022
Get ready for an annual indoor Oktoberfest – Great Oktoberfest beer, authentic German food, “Ein Prosit” sing-alongs, beer stein holding and sauerkraut eating competitions! Live music and entertainment. The river-view patio even has a festive 50-foot Biergarten table!

Rochester Mills Beer Oktoberfest - Rochester, MI - Sep 23 to Sep 24, 2022
The event celebrates the unveiling of their seasonal Oktoberfest lager brewed in-house. Ceremonial keg tapping on Friday evening. Friday and Saturday has brat & kraut eating contests and a stein hoisting competition. Live, traditional German music throughout the celebration as well as scheduled bavarian dancing. A one litre beer stein has historically been available for collectors to purchase. In past years, they served up 72 kegs of beer, more than 100 bottles of wine, 2000 bratwurst and 200 pounds of sauerkraut.

Parktoberfest - Detroit, MI - Sep 10 to Sep 11, 2022
Annual Parktoberfest returns to Downtown Detroit with two full days of free activities and entertainment. Campus Martius Park will host the event and feature the big Biergarten tent, an impressive selection of craft seasonal and Oktoberfest biers, fall food favorites, live music, kids activities, traditional games, dance, and competitions. A fully decorated Oktoberfest tent featuring a live performance stage, traditional biergarten tables, and Oktoberfest games and competitions

Oktoberfest in Owosso - Owosso, MI - Oct 8 to Oct 9, 2021
Annual Oktoberfest in Owosso. Located at the corner of Exchange & Water Streets. Enjoy music, dancing, food and beer! Brothermanbill

Old Town Blocktober Party - Lansing, MI - Oct 2 to Oct 3, 2020
Michigan’s best block party in Old Town. This 21+ event features food, drink, games, and music. The revamped Oktoberfest will have you up and dancing, and joining friends from all over the state for axe throwing, giant jenga, brews from Old Town’s Ozone Brewhouse and so much more.

St. Clare of Montefalco Oktoberfest - Grosse Pointe Park, MI - Oct 18 to Oct 20, 2019

Melvindale Fall Festival - Melvindale, MI - Oct 12, 2019
Formerly the Melvindale Oktoberfest. Enjoy live music and delicious food! Shop the giant indoor flea market, and more!

Grand Ledge Oktoberfest - Grand Ledge, MI - Oct 11, 2019
Hosted by the Grand Ledge Opera House.

Oktoberfest at the Inn at Harbor Shores - St Joseph, MI - Oct 5, 2019
Put on your lederhosen and dirndl for a day of fun at the Inn at Harbor Shores outside on the Riverside Patio. Enjoy a day of live music, local beer and cider, house-made brats and pretzels, lawn games and more.

Old Dog Tavern Oktoberfest - Kalamazoo, MI - Oct 5, 2019
Annual Oktoberfest at Old Dog Tavern. Wear lederhosen or a dirdnl for $1 off refills! Live music and great food specials.

Golftoberfest - Muskegon, MI -
Bavarian inspired event for golfers, including unlimited lunch, gift bag, and an official Oktoberfest beer tasting stein.

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 Michigan in fall:

Michigan Festivals
Michigan Corn Mazes
Michigan Ghost Tours
Haunted Houses in Michigan
Pumpkin Patches in Michigan

7 thoughts on “Oktoberfest in Michigan 2024”

    • Jaci says:

      On the Unions Octoberfest sign from last year it said that it was going to be their last one. So I don’t believe that they will be having it again, at least at the Union. Last year was their 17th annual Octoberfest. Sad it was the last one.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.