Sprankle’s Octoberfest expected to draw larger crowd
Thanks to Sprankle’s Neighborhood Markets, Butler County residents and others in the region won’t have to fly overseas for an authentic German Octoberfest experience.
Since 2019, Sprankle’s Octoberfest has drawn in tens of thousands of patrons annually to laugh, eat, dance and enjoy all things German, but this year things are expected to be bigger than before, especially with a new location.
Bela Pater, director of events for Sprankle’s Neighborhood Markets, said last year’s event brought in more than 36,000 visitors to the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company grounds, and this year at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, he expects the event to be able to host more people than before.
“This is not just a beer festival,” Pater said. “We cater to the whole family with so many things for the kids. With the carnival, kids can also try archery, and we will have a petting zoo. We also have 60 artisan vendors coming.”
The event is set to take place from 4 to 10 p.m. Sept. 6, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sept. 7 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 8.
A $10 entry fee will get patrons access to the grounds. Those 10 and younger get in free.
“To start off, we have a very large festival tent where we have the main stage and a dance floor where we have different German American bands playing throughout the weekend,” Pater said. “They will play anything from traditional German music to some American favorites.”
The tent, Pater said, can accommodate 1,500 people at once.
Authentic German food will be on-site as well, along with imported German beer from Hofbräuhaus, which has a location in Pittsburgh. Local brewery Grist House from Millvale will be on-site as well.
“We will have C&L Shows amusement rides that are from Mount Pleasant,” Pater said. “That will really double the space. The venue at Lernerville is five times bigger than last year’s venue. We are not going to be on the racetrack. We will be next to the racetrack, where they have a wide-open area.”
Pater said Sprankle’s was considering using its Sprankle Woods venue for the event, but they did not feel it was ready to play host for the big event at this time.
“We had been doing some smaller events at our Sprankle Woods venue, but until we do some more developments, it is not going to be able to accommodate that amount of people,” he said.
Pater said the Sprankle family, which has German heritage, was inspired to start the event after a family trip to Munich for its Octoberfest.
“With so many Western Pennsylvanians with some German heritage, they wanted to share this wonderful cultural experience with everybody,” Pater said.
