The last thing you are likely to think about Oktoberfest Brisbane 2017 is that it is a fantastic day for the family. Well like me you are totally wrong!!! Yesterday we all attended one of the Oktoberfest Sunday family days and we all had an absolute blast! Whilst there are certainly the large beer halls with plenty of people drinking beer from German steins and the crowds enjoy the Bavarian Oompah band, there are so many activities that the entire family will love that it is ridiculous!!!

The Brisbane showgrounds have been transformed into a mini Bavaria where you can enjoy fantastic German food, dancing, beer and some great rides and activities designed especially for the kids. If you missed it this weekend, don’t worry it’s on again next weekend.

If you are still not sure whether Oktoberfest Brisbane really is a family event, here is a quick rundown of 20 activities that your entire family will love at this year’s Oktoberfest Brisbane 2017.

20 Awesome Family Friendly Activities at Oktoberfest Brisbane

1. Kasperltheater (Puppet Theatre)

This was hands down our favourite event of the entire day. The very talented and very entertaining Julia had the whole crowd mesmerized and in stitches with her both comedy act and puppet show.

Julia is so entertaining that the little ones loved her as did the parents. She has a very unique comedy act which she does with quite an unusual white board as well as her Punch and Judy puppet act.

2. Rides & Games

What family fun day is complete without some great rides!! There is a great variety of rides suitable for the little kids right through to the bigger rides. Rides aren’t cheap at around $8 a go – but that’s why you have got to go on the family days (Sundays) as each child receives 2 free rides on entry. There is also an unlimited rides pass if you think you will be spending a good part of your day going on rides.

There are also a couple of your typical carnival style games like clowns.

3. Street Science Show

We didn’t get to see this one – to busy stuffing our faces full of delicious German Food!! – but this also looks like a great show for the kids. The write up about the Street Science Show says that it is an informative and spectacular live show that compliments Queensland’s education curriculum. Watch your child’s eyes light up at the magic of science!

Click here for tips on how to dress for Oktoberfest.

4. Animal Farm

All little kids love a good cuddle with some cute and fluffy farm animals. The animal farm is located inside the kids zone. Entry is $4.50 or you can count it has one of your free rides on Sundays.

5. Alpenrosen Dancing

The thing about German dancing is that you can’t help but getting involved! I am sure you all know the Chicken Dance, but other dances you can have a go at are the hat dance and the shoe-slapping (Schuhplattler). The guys and girls from the Alpenrosen Dance Group are very entertaining and will have you out of your sits dancing in no time. For those little ones who aren’t shy they can even get on stage and get involved.

6. Face Painting

Another essential at any family fun day is face painting. Face painting starts at $7.

7. Circus Workshops

The little ones can learn some circus tricks including juggling, twirling a hula hoop and some tricks with sticks. Whilst designed to entertain the kids, it wasn’t long before Andy was showing off with his juggling skills and the circus ladies had me up there twirling a hula hoop like a pro.

8. Beardmeister

Unfortunately this competition is not on until 13 October so we didn’t see it on the day we went – but I would love too! The Beardmeister competition is all about weird and wonderful beards and mustaches. I am sure this is an event that the whole family would love!

9. Make Lebkuchenherz (Gingerbread Hearts)

Lebkuchenherz is a delicious German baked treat and the kids can make their very own in the art area set up in the Kinderzone. Myla absolutely loved this activity and went back 3 times to make Gingerbread Hearts.

10. Learn German

Just next to the arts tent, the kids can have a go at learning some of the German language. We couldn’t pin Myla down long enough to go into this tent, but it looked lovely set up with books and cushions where the kids could get a taste of the German language.

11. Watch Animal Planet’s Snake Boss live shows

Julia who does the Punch and Judy show is a lady of many talents, and straight after her puppet show she brings out her range of pet reptiles. Julia is in fact Julia Baker from the Australian television series Snake Boss. Whilst she shows the kids her various reptiles including snakes and lizards she teaches the kids about the animals as well as how to keep safe. There is even an opportunity at the end to have your photo taken holding Monty the python.

12. Human Foosball

For families with older kids, this is a great one to either get involved in as you enter a blow up Human Foosball field. Basically the game has rods stretching across the field, the players hold onto the rods which are in a fixed position with the aim to kick the ball into the goal at either end of the field.

Even if you don’t have a team, which we didn’t, we found it quite entertaining to watch a game for a while. Myla was begging to have a go, but unfortunately there is a height requirement which she didn’t meet.

13. Bavarian Strongmen

Another competition that I am sure the whole family will love is the Bavarian Strong men competition which is on 14 October. Competitions include Jockey Race, Krapfen {Jam Donut} Eating, Barrel Race, Nailing, Tug of War and Stein Holding. Seriously which kids isn’t going to love watching a jam donut eating competition!!

14. Little Miss Oktoberfest Brisbane 2017

Little Miss Oktoberfest is great fun for the little girls. Girls between the ages of 5 – 8 are invited to dress up in their dirndl and take part in a variety of the activities including singing, playing glocken spiels (cow bells), designing lebkuchenherz (gingerbread hearts) and even milking a pretend cow.

Myla took part in Little Miss Oktoberfest, and although she was a little shy being on stage, she loved it. Of course all little girls are winners and so they were all awarded a beautifully decorated lebkuchenherz.

15. Kindermusik

The Kindermusik area was the one area of Oktoberfest Brisbane that Myla just kept going back to. This is really just an area for the little ones to have some time out from the event. The quiet area has musical instruments, a massive kinetic sand table, train tracks, puppets and toys that the younger kids can play with. Kindermusik is located in the Kinderzone were many of the activities listed above are.

16. Yodeling

I have always been mesmerized by the yodeling and going to the Oktoberfest this was one thing I was excited to see. Heidi the yodeler sang a variety of tunes for us including some famous songs from “The Sound of Music”. Myla was lucky enough to even sing with her as part of the Little Miss Oktoberfest.

17. Eat Delicious German Food

Ok if you are anything like me Oktoberfest makes me think of delicious German food and there is certainly no shortage of it here. At Oktoberfest Brisbane, you will find Schweinshaxe {pork knuckle}, Bratwurst, Sauerkraut and Schnitzel, baked potato dishes and freshly-baked Brezn {Pretzel}. There is even something for the sweet tooth’s with traditional German cakes and slices such as Black Forest, Bee Sting, Sacher Torter and Apple Strudel.

We certainly overindulged as we enjoyed a fantastic Bavarian Bretti which is basically a giant platter of meats, breads and salads – followed by some amazing sweets.

17. Dance with the Bavarian Oompah Band

After you have filled your bellies full of delicious German food, what better way to help it all digest than getting up on the dance floor as the Oompah Band belts out both classic German songs and modern day songs. It was great to see both young and old and all ages in between dancing together. It wasn’t long until Andy and Myla hit the dance floor.

19. Drink German Beer

Yes of course we couldn’t leave out drinking German beer from one of the top activities to do at Oktoberfest Brisbane. Whilst not really a family activity – happy Mums and Dads make for happy families – right? Drinks on offer include Reinheitsgebot {Bavarian Purity Law}, Bier {beer}, Hand-crafted German beers, German and Australian wines, German Sekt {sparkling}, champagne and Schnaps mixers. Andy and I aren’t really beer drinkers but we did enjoy a few glasses of delicious German wine.

20. Chill out in the Bavarian Corner

If you want to go all out and have a VIP Experience at Oktoberfest Brisbane, then consider booking a table for the whole family at the Bayrisches Eck {Bavarian Corner}. These tables for 8 are situated in the Oktoberfest Tent on a raised podium so you have the perfect vantage point for the entertainment and of course food and beers.

Included in the VIP tickets are priority entry, fully catered tables (no lining up woot woot!), group photo, free rides all day long (this is a great one for the kids who like to go on a lot of rides!), free round of drinks, traditional German ginger bread heart, beer stein and Bavarian Brettl a delicious German gourmet feast!

Helpful Information

If this sounds like a lot of fun to you – you are in luck! Oktoberfest Brisbane is on again next weekend, with another family day set for Sunday 15 October.

Tickets

General admission tickets are $19 per adult online or $22 at the gate. All kids are free and on Sundays each child receives 2 free ride tickets. Book your online tickets here.

Getting there

Oktoberfest Brisbane is held at the Brisbane Showgrounds and entry to the event is Gregory Terrace.

If you want to drive, parking is available for $13 for the entire day – which I think is pretty good value. The parking is located in Gregory Terrace.

You can of course get public transport, which is recommended for any Mums and Dads planning on having a few drinks. You can catch a train to either Bowen Hills or Fortitude Valley Station or a bus.

Cashless Event

One very important thing to note is that the entire event is cashless. This means you need to set yourself up a digital wallet before going. Don’t let this put you off, even I was like “what!” but it was super easy to set up and made for a very smooth day not having to worry about money and change etc.

I’d recommend over estimating how much you want to spend and putting that amount in your digital wallet as you can easily have whatever is left transferred straight back to your account after the day. Otherwise you will need to top up your account online during the day if you run out of cash.

Find out everything you need about setting up the Digital Wallet here.

Our Verdict

I’ll be honest, it had never occurred to me that Oktoberfest Brisbane would be a fantastic family event. I attended Oktoberfest many moons ago in Munich as a solo backpacker and I had an absolute blast drinking and partying all night long!! However when we were invited to come check out the event as a family I started looking into it and was super surprised about how many activities there were for families.

We went to Oktoberfest Brisbane with our daughter Myla (6) and 2 Chinese students that were staying with us (both 15) and we all had an absolute blast. Whilst the rides are a bit pricey – given that kids have free entry and that there are heaps of free activities for families, it is a great day out for the entire family and we highly recommend it. Myla has already asked if we can go next year!

We were thrilled to be invited guests at this years Oktoberfest Brisbane 2017, but of course all opinions express above are my own.