Hello food & music lovers!
It’s been a minute since I’ve written a block post about an event. Well, here I am to talk about one of my favourite Canadian festivals - period - Beau’s Oktoberfest.
This year they called it Oktinyfest because they decided to pare the festival down. Also! This was the first year it was actually celebrated in October! All things considered, I thought it was great that they got this organized in light of ever changing restrictions in Ontario. Definitely better than cancelling it altogether.
I checked out their Saturday evening time slot. It was hard to choose which of the 4 slots to go to as they always curate really great Canadian music talent. I checked out Bambies and Grae. Thank goodness though they also featured their resident Polka band.
It was a damp chilly evening so the first thing we did was hit up the delicious food provided by Sticky Cow BBQ and, of course, German pretzels. I had the beef stew as well as the beans. The stew was definitely the star. So hearty, so flavourful and perfect for the weather.
Of course you can’t talk about Oktoberfest without talking BEER. Beau’s was the first brewery I ever visited in person. That was probably around 2007 that I first visited.. wow! They continue to grow and inspire me as a local sustainable food business.
If you’ve read this food blog, you know that I’ve struggled with dietary changes. I’ve been dabbling with drinking beer again this summer and have been feeling ok having some on occasion - YAY!
The beer staff were really patient and grateful to share little tastings of most of the beers that caught my eye. Maybe this was one benefit to having a pared down festival - beer samples! I started with the dark Halcyon Beer and finished with the Raspberry Sour.
Another benefit to the smaller version of Oktoberfest was the fact that I could sign up on time for the beer stein holding contest! During (and before) lockdown, I had been working with a personal trainer. I was hoping I would have superpowers and win but, alas, a woman VERY MUCH taller than me won! Better luck next year.
The live music was fun to enjoy although I would have rather been allowed to dance so that I could vibe (and stay warm) but I have to respect different business’s comfort levels whilst holing the event. It’s been a really really tough time, especially for food and event businesses but there have been several outdoor music events that have more open policies in the region. Let’s hope that the restrictions lift so that these businesses can run without fear of shutting down.
Overall it was awesome to discover new beers, new music and finally get a taste of real life again. Prost!