On Saturday, September 30, thousands of Octoberfest partygoers came to the Harpoon Brewery lot in Boston’s Seaport neighbourhood to enjoy live music, yard games, socialising and lots and lots of beer on tap.
The 33rd annual Octoberfest will be held at the brewery in the autumn of 2023. People came on foot, by MBTA bus or by car from noon to 7 p.m. to take part in the day’s events, which included contests like stein-lifting, pretzel-eating and chicken dancing.
Cover bands played hits from many decades and Boston favourites like “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond and “I’m Shipping Up to Boston” by Dropkick Murphys. Oompah bands dressed in traditional Bavarian clothes and playing horns and brass instruments also played live.
At the door, people would get a blue or orange reusable plastic cup as a souvenir. To fill their cups, they would show their drink tickets to servers at taps in tented areas.
At Octoberfest, there were many different alcoholic drinks to choose from, such as Harpoon’s IPAs, ciders, and Octoberfest mix, as well as Dunkin’ Spiked drinks, UFO brand drinks, and different spiked seltzers.
There were stands selling food like pretzels with mustard and sausages, as well as food trucks that served Indian food, food from New Orleans, and more.
The event was going to happen even if it rained, but even though it was cloudy most of the day, the weather mostly held out on Saturday. On Friday night, September 29, the brewery also had an Octoberfest party.
On Sunday, October 1, beer drinkers could bring their dogs to “Harpoon Dogtoberfest,” and the net funds from the event went to brain tumour cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the MSPCA-Angell.
