So I went to Beau’s Okatoberfest this year and was a little disappointed in the event. Actually, I was really disappointed with the event. I don’t want to go into too much detail about it, because I do like their beer and want to support them. However, if they are reading this, I think it would be a good idea next year to:
- Have more food vendors that will not run out of food at dinner time (watching the food vendors around you running out of food, then you line does just before you get there is not cool).
- Less line ups (waiting 45min in a line up to fill up a stein of beer is not fun) – More beer stations.
- Allow the food and beer wenches accept cash. (it sucks when you aren’t told how many food tickets to buy, get in a line, then find out your two tickets short and have to wait in another line to buy 2 more tickets, then wait in the food line again to get food)
- More organized line ups for buses.
- Play games and do activities that will keep people moving
At Oktoberfest, we had fun because there were 20 of us, not because of the event. I think next year, we’ll just go to the LCBO, buy Beau’s beer and have our own little Beerfest at home.
On the brightside, at least we got some cute hats.
Ya, that doesn’t sound very “festy”..all those line-ups
By: XUP on October 5, 2009
at 12:25 pm
Thanks for your email and thanks also for coming down to our event. We had expected a turn-out of about 1,200, staffed and planned for 2,000 people and asked the restaurants to prepare enough to serve 5,000 portions.
When 5,000+ people arrived, we were completely overwhelmed. The downstream impact of this was that the restaurants all sold out of everything they made, we could not sell beer tickets fast enough and generally everything got backed up. In a first year event it is completely nprecedented to get such a phenomenal turn-out, and while that sounds great, it doesn’t make for a great experience – for that I’m sorry.
We did have lots to do though – a keg toss competition, haywagon rides to the brewery, a kids section (with petting zoo) and more.
We learned a lot this year and promise that next year the crowd will actually be expected and planned for. I hope you can give us a second chance!
Cheers,
Steve Beauchesne
By: Steve Beauchesne on October 5, 2009
at 8:45 pm
Oops! Blog post – not email! I haven’t slept in 4 days.
By: Steve Beauchesne on October 5, 2009
at 8:46 pm
We found it VERY DISAPPOINTING too…I was so excited to go and the kids were thrilled…but alas, we left a bit cold, hungry and craving a good beer!
By: laura on October 5, 2009
at 9:19 pm
What can we say to people who came to Oktoberfest and were disappointed? I say, take a look at what we planned, and then imagine that event with a manageable group of people. You show up, pop on your green souvenir hat and pin, see a ceremonial keg being tapped, dance around to the Oompah band, wander over and buy a souvenir stein and some tickets. Go sample fabulous food from a wide variety of local restaurants, taste Beau’s new Oktoberfest lager (YUM!), hop on the haywagon ride and go for a tour of the brewery with free samplings and a fun tour guide, head up on back, maybe shopping in VKH along the way. Laugh at the ramblings of guest star George Wendt, and then get your pic taken with him. Participate in the keg tossing contest, maybe eat some more chow. Dance a bit more, check out the petting zoo and kids events, maybe have another beer. Buy some cool Beau’s merch, hop back on your bus or in with your DD, and away you go. Awesome day, right? We’re bummed that people waited in lines, were cold, and went hungry. We just wanted to put on a great party, and I still think that we did.
By: Jen James on October 6, 2009
at 3:45 pm