A Tale of Two Oktoberfests -- Bluffton and Port Royal to host German-styled festivals this weekend
If you want to wear lederhosen to either of the Oktoberfest-styled events coming up Saturday, you're certainly welcome to, festival organizers say, but it's not required.
"If you want to bring your German outfit, that's fine," laughs Brooke Buccola, an organizer for Port Royal's OktoPRfest.
The popular two-day event, which kicks off Friday, is one of two such festivals happening in the Lowcountry this weekend, and, as Buccola says, Port Royal's version will offer that "quirky, wonderful" style visitors have come to expect.
"The town is known for being 'Cool, coastal and far from ordinary,'" she says. "And that explains wonderfully our events."
The fun starts Friday night with a craft beer tasting party at The Shed on Paris Avenue. The adults-only event will be from 6 to 10 p.m. and feature 40 beers to sample. There will also be wine, sodas and food.
The Brewer Band will provide live music.
And for those of you with extra special talent, a stein holding competition should give you something to look forward to.
Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door and can be purchased at The Tavern, Smokin' Planks and Helena Place Senior Living, in Port Royal. Admission includes a commemorative glass.
The festival continues 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and features a variety of craft and domestic beer available for purchase, food, crafts, a Kid's Fun Zone and a classic car display. Souls Harbor and Broke Locals will provide live music and internationally renowned accordion player Nick DeMarco will also be on hand along with dancers from the Larew Dance Center.
Participants take note: pets should be left at home since they will not be allowed at the street festival.
For more information, visit http://www.oldvillageportroyal.com.
Visitors to Bluffton's Old Town also will have something to lift a stein to.
The 11th Annual Old Town Bluffton Merchants' Oktoberfest will take place from 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday in Bluffton Village, off Bluffton Road.
The festival will feature German-style food, polka music and beer and wine. The event will also include a classic car show and children's play area.
And the "bier garten" will be bigger and better than ever, says festival organizer Mary O'Neill.
"We are definitely jazzing it up this year," she says. The garden will feature plants from Rose Dhu nursery and German flags, she says.
For entertainment, The Rhinelanders German polka band will play from 1 to 3 p.m., and Hilton Head's Cranford Hollow, which will play from 4 to 7 p.m., will surely get people moving if they aren't already.
Admission is $5. Children 12 and younger get in free.
And if you'd like to wear your lederhosen, O'Neill says feel free.
"Last year, some of our guests came dressed up," she says. "So you're definitely going to see that."
Follow reporter Mindy Lucas at twitter.com/MindyatIPBG.
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This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 9:57 AM with the headline "A Tale of Two Oktoberfests -- Bluffton and Port Royal to host German-styled festivals this weekend."