Fountain Hills Oktoberfest

At six o’clock on Friday, October 2, 2026, Mayor Gerry Friedel tapped the ceremonial keg in Fountain Hills and called out “O’zapft is!” The phrase means the keg is tapped and the festivities can begin. The tapping follows the German custom, in which the mayor does the honors, and opens the Fountain Hills Oktoberfest each year.

The festival runs two evenings, from 5 to 10 p.m. It fills Centennial Circle, an outdoor space, and the indoor Fountain Hills Community Center beside it on North La Montana Drive. The host is Fountain Hills Sister Cities, a nonprofit that keeps partnerships with Dierdorf in Germany’s Westerwald, Concepción de Ataco in El Salvador, and Zamość in Poland. Proceeds go to the group’s educational and international programs. In 2026 a ticket cost $10 for anyone 13 or older and was good for one day only. Children 12 and younger came in free. Guests fully dressed in dirndl or lederhosen received a voucher for a free beer or pretzel.

The music comes from Die Echten Waldbuam, a band that flies in from Germany every year. It plays traditional Oktoberfest Volksmusik along with contemporary tunes for the dance floor. The 2026 lineup was Martin Moser on keyboard, trumpet and vocals, Rickie McDowell on guitar and vocals, and Thomas Kible on saxophone. New for 2026 was the Varitones Polka Band, an accordion-and-brass group that opened the music at 5 p.m. on Friday. The Waldbuam played sets through both evenings and closed each night at 9:30 with “Auf Wiedersehn.” Between sets the emcee was Scott Schlossberg of Farmers Insurance, who also sat on the planning committee.

Brats, strudel and a chocolate sauerkraut cake

The food line runs to foot-long grilled brats and curry brats, schnitzel, and sides of homemade sauerkraut, potato salad and potato pancakes. The organizers’ menu advises that with a traditional German brat, “the bun is only meant to serve as a handle to help you eat it!” Phil’s Filling Station Grill, a Fountain Hills restaurant, has cooked German food for the festival for 18 years, according to a Sister Cities post from September 2026.

Mountain View Kitchen bakes the Oktoberfest strudel from an old family recipe, along with a Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake. Sister Cities volunteers sell the strudel, the cake and fresh pretzels to raise money for the organization.

The beer is Warsteiner from Germany, in a Premium Dunkel and a Premium Pilsener. Bone Haus Brewing of Arizona pours a Kölsch, a Festbier and a Märzen. Euro Pizza Cafe supplies the wine. Children have a free Kids’ Zone with crafts and face painting, and a photo booth with Bavarian props runs through both evenings.

The alphorn at seven, the stein at nine

Each evening has a set order of contests. At 7 p.m. a line forms for the alphorn, and visitors of all ages take turns trying to sound it. The audience votes the winner, who gets a prize. The 50/50 raffle opens at 5 and the winner is announced at 8. At 8:15 the Best Dressed Parade goes around the grounds, and guests in dirndls and lederhosen show their outfits. Prizes go to the most popular.

At 9 p.m. comes the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Bierstein Holding Competition. Twelve contestants each evening hold a filled five-pound beer stein straight out in front of them, and the last one holding wins. By the organizers’ figures, women average two to three minutes and men three to five. “It looks easy until the shaking starts!” a Sister Cities post said before the 2026 festival, which asked contestants to help set a new Arizona record.

A telescope beside the pavilion

The International Dark Sky Discovery Center stands directly beside the Oktoberfest pavilion. For the 2026 festival, which came before the center’s official grand opening, ticket holders got an early look. They could use the telescopes, weather permitting, see the lobby and gift shop, and be among the first to buy a membership. The printed schedule set the preview for 7:30 p.m. A Sister Cities post said preview opportunities would begin at about 6:30.

On the Saturday morning, Sister Cities thanked Friday’s crowd and invited everyone back that night. The same day the group posted about its tie to Ataco. It noted that German immigrant growers and merchants contributed to El Salvador’s coffee history: “From their hills to Fountain Hills—coffee, culture, and friendship.”

A tent in Fountain Park

Christine and Jack Colley moved to Fountain Hills in 1995. According to the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce, they found many German-speaking residents in town and founded the German club of Fountain Hills. Christine Colley grew up in Mainz. The Chamber’s account says Oktoberfest was the club’s first project in 1997, and that the first festival was held in 1998. The Sister Cities history also gives 1998. Treffpunkt, a German-speaking community club in Scottsdale, says Colley created the festival in 2008.

The early festivals stood under a 10,000-square-foot tent in Fountain Park. After the second Oktoberfest, the Chamber records, the lake liner was replaced and the park was closed to large events, so the festival moved to Fort McDowell. The German club gave it up after the third year. The Chamber of Commerce took it over, but by the Chamber’s own account the event did not fit its strategy at the time and was not repeated.

Revival, rain, and a handoff

In 2006 Bryan Hughes, then the town’s Parks and Recreation manager, teamed with Christine Colley to bring the festival back, and it returned in 2007. The Chamber describes it as labor-intensive. More than 150 volunteers spent about five months on marketing, vendors, sponsors, logistics, food and drink.

Service clubs took on the work. The Elks prepared and served food with some 40 volunteers at the event. The Amvets poured beer at first, and then the Rotarians took over the job with more than 60 volunteer spots. The local girls’ high school basketball team cleaned up, a job the Rotarians later took on. The Kiwanis handled the gate and ticket sales. Staff at the Fireside Grill made the strudel, and the Sister Cities group served it. German exchange students came over the years, and the high school band played the opening ceremony when it could. In those years, visitors in Trachten could enter free of charge.

By the Chamber’s count, the proceeds sent more than $100,000 to the volunteer organizations’ charities over 12 years. In 2019 rain washed out the event in the park. Because the German band was already in town, the organizers quickly put together small satellite celebrations. In 2020 the festival was cancelled. Colley then decided to “retire” from Oktoberfest, and the Chamber volunteered to host it. “It’s a bittersweet time for me to give up this activity that I love,” she said in the Chamber’s history, “and I’m happily looking forward to my friends at the Chamber to carry forward this tradition.”

By 2026 the festival had passed to Fountain Hills Sister Cities, with Colley as the group’s president. On the list of the 2026 planning committee the group thanked after the first night, the first name was Christine Colley.