Detroit loves parks. Detroit loves beer. Ergo, beer + park + fake Germany + Campus Martius = fun. But PARKtoberfest isn't happening in October. PARKtoberfest comes but once a year, and this year, it's this Friday. We wonder if there was a scheduling problem, or if people just thought "PARKtoberfest" sounded dorky. Either way, PARKtoberfest is a fun downtown beer thing this weekend. It's free, although the beer is not.
PARKtoberfest, a two-day event Friday Sept 18 and Sat Sept 19, and it takes place at Campus Martius (the "PARK" in "PARKtoberfest"). For what organizers hope will be only this event's first year, the featured beers come from Atwater Brewery, a Detroit company. Atwater's Bloktoberfestand a specialty German Octoberfest beer will be featured. There will also be ciders, harvest wine and dancing. along with kid-friendly stuff like pumpkin carving and fall food offerings galore.
The city office sponsoring the event, the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in a statement that the timing isn't a SNAFU. In Germany, specifically in in Munich, Germans observer Oktoberfest the same September weekend every year. Friday, a ceremonial noontime keg tap will open festivities at Campus Martius. If the weather holds, it'll be perfect fall temperatures for outdoor beer parties. Given the potential for figid weather in both Munich and Detroit in October, the timing is seeming like a better and better idea to us.
Part of historic Rivertown since 1997 and working inside what was once an old warehouse, Atwater Brewery uses a brewhouse method called Kasper Schultz lets the Atwater make traditional German-style lagers and other beers. All the tools and machines for making the beer comes directly from Germany, hence the term "brewhouse." Atwater also relies exclusively on imported German malt and hops. Atwater is beer ethnocentrist—they use American hops for specialty ales. Atwater's equipment, as seen in these photos, is some impressive Detroit machinery in and of itself.
PARKtoberfest, a two-day event taking place Friday Sept 18 and Sat Sept 19 from noon to 10 pm at Campus Martius park downtown.
·Our Brewery [Atwater Brewery]
·Green Space [Campus Martius Park]
·Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau [Visit Detroit.com]
·PARKtoberfest [Source]
·Now Brewing in Detroit: A Startup That Aims to Pedal Beer [Wall Street Journal]
·City Devastates Park Residents Maintained for Nearly a Decade [Curbed Detroit]
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