Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest

German-speaking settlers, many of them Mennonites from Pennsylvania and later immigrants from German states, made this county substantially German by the mid-1800s, and the city was named Berlin until anti-German feeling during the first world war forced a vote that renamed it Kitchener in 1916. The Oktoberfest began in 1969 and is generally described as the largest Bavarian festival outside Germany, running nine days in October across a set of festhallen with beer, food and music, drawing several hundred thousand people. A Thanksgiving Day parade is the largest in Canada and is televised nationally. Miss Oktoberfest and a keg-tapping open the festival.

Highlights

• The festhallen - large halls with beer, bands and Bavarian food.
• The Thanksgiving parade - Canada's largest, broadcast nationally.
• The keg tapping - the ceremonial opening of the nine days.
• The German heritage - the county's settlement history behind the festival.

When to go

October only, over nine days around Canadian Thanksgiving; outside that there is no festival. Hall tickets sell in advance and accommodation books out across the region.

Practical notes

It runs nine days a year and there is nothing to see otherwise. The halls are drinking venues, loud and crowded, and not suited to everyone. Accommodation and taxis are stretched.

Nearby

St. Jacobs lies north; Elora is northeast.