As a resident of the city of la crosse I totally despise the entire fest. Most residents of our city dislike Oktoberfest celebration for many reasons. Drunken people, litter, loud house parties and traffic. The fest puts a burden on law enforcement and the city employees that have to clean up all of the litter. In addition, people are urinating in alleys and parking lots. The fest should be moved out of the city and held at the La crosse County fairgrounds or somewhere else in La Crosse County. read more

My first visit to the Oktoberfest celebrations and I have to say that it was really fun. Like the variety of drinks that were available so if you don't want beer you still have other choices. My favorite was probably the giant pretzel that came with cheese, so yummy! It was really cold this year and I think that they should have had heaters so that people could warm up a bit. Would have made it a lot more enjoyable. read more

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This event kicks ass!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously plan to attend this and make sure you rest up your liver beforehand because you will drink till you fall over here......It is nothing but an entire town of people having a great time. You meet all kinds of people. There are some brewery tours you can do--all the bars have specials....and there is even a fishbowl drink at one of them. You get kissed on the cheek by all kinds of old men and they give out the pins that you want to collect....you can get beads.....it is a hoot....Now be warned that sometimes some irresponsible people have fallen into the river and drowned.....Be smart---have a plan and have people to check on you....You need to book your hotel early because there won't be any room at any inn if you wait...this is something to plan a year ahead......fun fun fun... read more

Oktoberfest - Festivals Near Me - La Crosse, Wisconsin

Oh man, I didn't realize they had reviews for festivals! I have a different appreciation for Oktoberfest because for many years I was a volunteer on the parade committee. Hauling myself out of bed at 4am to be downtown in time to line up all the parade participants was exhausting, but fun. The parades are attended really well, to the point people try to put out lawn furniture to reserve their spot days in advance, despite police warning the stuff will be removed. There are actually several parades during the multi-day event, including a night parade. The fest in general is a marathon of drinking. People for the most part are decent during the day, but it can get out of hand sometimes and people can be ridiculous, especially if you are sober. But, if you aren't down for lots of drinking, the fest offers a great variety of food, music, and other activities. There are two fest grounds: north and south. The south grounds usually house the younger, college crowd and those there for drinking. The north fest grounds tend to be lower key, more family friendly with carnival rides, etc. read more

Great hometown event! A days-long celebration of....well, basically beer and drinking. Oh yeah, there's plenty of food too! There's a 3-hour long parade full of singing, dancing, drinking and pure good old fashioned fun. The beer tent features live music. A good time all around! read more

Oktoberfest - Festivals Near Me - La Crosse, Wisconsin

OMG, I didn't know you could review a drunkfest! Oktoberfest is like Christmas for alcoholics. I know, I've lived it. It is true the tapping of the golden keg is the official kickoff, but the real fun begins when an intern at a local television station has to run the tap across town olympic-torch style to the La Crosse brewery. Then and only then will the mayor tap the golden keg. Only in WI is the "tapping of the golden keg" a live radio and television event. As for the parade, if there are open intoxication laws, they are not enforced. I walked in the parade one year and was handed six beers and sucked down two beer bongs. Now that's a parade. Later on Saturday the streets are shutdown and all the bars drag coolers outside and start selling beer to anyone walking by. Police stand around on horses. "Do not pet the horses!" say the cops (I pet the horse). It's just a good old time. Special note, if you are not 21 you will get busted so head for Madison for the weekend...your time will come! read more

It would help a lot if people were more considerate in not walking onto our properties and leaving their garbage on our lawns during and after the torchlight parade. It never used to be like this, but has gotten much worse the past 10 years. So have fun, but use some common sense and respect our properties ! read more

A great American local town celebration since 1961 celebrating German Heritage. Must come and enjoy with lots of friends!

picture it. beautiful western wisconsin in the fall. mild weather, trees changing - ahhh. then, the last friday of the month of september, it begins. it begins with the tapping of the golden keg. then you get up REALLY early on saturday and go to the maple leaf parade. it's 4 hours long and i don't really think there are any open intoxicant laws. then you party some more and get really toasted on all that la crosse beer and go and see pat mccurdy and you go to the alpine and you have a wonderful wonderful time. oktoberfest is better than christmas. read more

It was fun the first few years I lived and visted here. Now I just see it as amature hour. Bars DO increase drink prices and places get packed. The Outdoor stuff is great and I love the instant Brat fix. It brings a fun vibe in the begining they've shortened it so this year I liked it more. The North side Fest grounds has more kids stuff. Downtown is just a drunkfest but I still enjoy the South Side fest grounds because of the live shows and fried foods. read more

To quote Homer Simpson... Mmm. Beer. If you like beer and crazy drunks, this is your party! Oh - throw in cute college students, great fall weather and the ability to walk around downtown with a beer in your hand, you must make it to La Crosse in late September/early October. I am looking forward to my second Oktoberfest. I plan on attending the 'tapping of the golden keg' on Friday morning. (Yes, I said morning!) I will stay and have a dozen or so beers and listen to a couple bands. Or maybe try to squeeze into Del's bar a few block from the southside Fest Grounds. Saturday morning at 10 a.m. the parade begins. I am not big into parades, however - this rocks! Practically everyone is drinking and snacking and grilling through this 3-4 HOUR parade. Then, people either go home to sleep a bit, or go to one of the two festival grounds to hear some music. I have been told that the downtown bars get CRAZY busy all weekend. read more

There are few festivals that are as good as Oktoberfest. It is a midwest drunken beer fest that goes on for days.

It was a beatiful ride out to La Crosse last week. Pettibone resort was very nice. And Oktoberfest was a lot of fun. We met a lot of very nice people and some not so nice. My friend and I were drugged at Broncos Bar, please becareful. read more