Skip to Content
Everything Else

Tulsa’s Oktoberfest is better’n yours and stuff

8:00 AM EDT on October 2, 2012

I love fall, but not for the typical reasons you're used to hearing, like "football," "changing leaves," or "pumpkin spice lattes." I really like fall because I'm one of those girls who starts shivering if a fan is on in a 75 degree room. Finally, I have an excuse to wear knee-length cardigans and boots without looking like a freak! That, and all of my favorite television shows are back on, which is a nice change of pace from my usual evening routine of playing on Pinterest and reading Cosmopolitan at the gym.

Oh, and also there's Oktoberfest. Any event that makes drinking beer straight from the pitcher socially acceptable is a-okay by me. Apparently, last week some experts got together and decided that Tulsa's own Oktoberfest is one of the best in the nation. Is it just me, or does Tulsa always seem to make the top ten of every single random list that Yahoo or NBC or the Department of Health release?

From Tulsa World's Living Wright:

"Bavaria comes to Oklahoma" -- it's a slogan Tulsa's Oktoberfest could borrow from NBC.

Maybe they've used that, though, in past years at Oktoberfest, which we already knew was countless kegs of fun -- and one of the best in the country, different magazines claim.

The newest validation came courtesy of NBC's "Today Show," when guest Kate Maxwell, a travel editor, included the 918's take on the annual German extravaganza on her list of top fall festivals around the country.

"I think Oktoberfest, I don't always think of Oklahoma," an NBC anchor said during the segment. That's probably a safe assumption for most folks outside the Sooner State.

"No, you might think of Germany, generally," Maxwell replied before touting Tulsa's annual German beer-infused brouhaha as "one of the best in the country ... Bavaria comes to Oklahoma, really."

"The next best thing to Munich, I guess, is Tulsa this time of year," the anchor said. Kinda cool, huh?

I've attended this shindig a handful of times. Do not misinterpret this post--I love Oktoberfest! I take my potato pancakes with apfelmus and bratwursts with extra sauerkraut, thank you. Consuming large portions of hefeweizen is a year-long hobby of mine, as is boogieing to the chicken dance. Last year, a distinguished-looking man in a striking pair of lederhosen and a feathered cap even asked me to dance! Yes, without a doubt, Tulsa's Oktoberfest is a grand old time indeed. But second best to Munich?! Give me a break.

Maybe I haven't been to enough stateside Oktoberfests, or perhaps I've spent too much time at real biergartens in Munich and various Hofbrauhauses, but this impossible. If it's "one of the best on the country," maybe the entire country should rethink the Oktoberfest thing. I bet Kate Maxwell, the travel editor on Today who made the claim, probably got laid in Tulsa or something. She also probably thinks Omaha has the country's best St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Follow Chelsea on Twitter at @xCawoodstock

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter