Prepare to raise a stein, as Oktoberfest returns to Canby this year to say, “Prost!” the last days of summer.
Known as “Fobtoberfest” in honor of the event’s main organizer and sponsor, FOB Taproom, Canby’s second annual Oktoberfest celebration will return to Wait Park in downtown Canby for a two-day event in mid-September.
After hosting smaller iterations of “Fobtoberfest” at the FOB Taproom for several years, owner Steve Puga and his team decided to launch it as a full community event last year.
Initially a one-day event, Fobtoberfest welcomed several thousand people to enjoy German music, food and culture, try their hand at traditional games and challenges like keg rolling and stein holding, and — of course — sampling from dozens of carefully selected imported and domestic craft beers and beverages.
“The first year was kind of a trial,” Puga explained. “We were asking the community, ‘Is this something you want to see?’ And, given the response we received, we feel like the answer was, ‘Oh, heck yeah.'”
Puga praised the City of Canby and his own team of staff members, friends and volunteers for assisting in making last year’s inaugural Fobtoberfest a resounding success.
“The city was great,” he said. “They saw what we had been doing here at FOB for Oktoberfest, just in-house, and that’s kind of what first prompted us to talk with the city last year and look at scaling it up. So, this year, we’re going to continue building on what we started in 2022 and really expand in a lot of ways that people were asking for.”
The move to a two-day event is in an effort to better accommodate people’s schedules, Puga said. This year’s event will also include more dining options, games and entertainment, as well as a cashless system that will make purchasing food and drinks much smoother and more seamless.
Fobtoberfest is modeled on the original Oktoberfest, a 16-day annual beer fair and folk festival held in Munich, Germany, since 1810, and closer to home, the famed Mt. Angel Oktoberfest, which is the largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.
At its core, the event is a celebration of German food, music and culture, as well as the fruits of a successful summer growing season. Canby’s Fobtoberfest is a laid-back, family-friendly affair, Steve says, that is open to all — especially those who have never been to an Oktoberfest event before.
“The most important thing about Fobtoberfest is that it’s really community-based,” Puga explained. “We wanted to give Canby the opportunity to attend an Oktoberfest event and have a great time in their own community.”
Puga has long harbored a love of German beer halls, which was cultivated during his previous career as a globe-trotting professional in the world of supply chain logistics, and this is reflected at the FOB Taproom, where German flags, soccer club logos, bier signs, wall art and other decor line every wall.
“Anybody who knows FOB knows we’re about a genuine love of German beers,” Puga said. “Just that feeling of walking into a German beer hall and it’s kind of like Cheers: It’s the community pub and everybody knows your name. That’s the whole premise behind what we try to do every day.”
His event has also been inspired by the area’s German heritage. In the pioneer days, a sizable contingent of first- and second-generation German immigrants settled in Canby and the surrounding communities, and a number of families made their mark.
“There is a lot of German history and German influence in this area,” he said. “And that was kind of paramount when my wife and I decided to buy this and transform it into what it is now, was knowing about that German thread that runs through Canby.”
Fobtoberfest attendees will have no shortage of beers to choose from, with a menu of more than a dozen rare German beers carefully selected by Steve and his team. Bavarian-style bratwurst and pretzels, among other authentic flavors, will be on offer from Ebner’s Custom Meats, B’s Bake Shoppe and King’s Farm to Table.
And the air will be filled with traditional German folk music and drinking songs, including several oompah bands.
The Second Annual Fobtoberfest will be held from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, September 16, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, September 17, at Wait Park in downtown Canby. For more information, visit fobtaproom.com.
