The New York Town That’s #1 For Pretzels & Other Oktoberfest Facts

Oktoberfest traditionally runs from mid-September to the first Sunday in the month of October, which in 2018 is October 7th. It's a celebration of music, food, and beer that we have appropriated from Germany and blended into our own American culture.

In timely fashion, financial website WalletHub has published its list of 2018's Best Places for Oktoberfest Celebrations. If you enjoy bratwurst, wiener schnitzel, German brews, lederhosen, and oompah bands, this list of American cities is an essential resource. Among the top 100 cities listed for Oktoberfest celebrations, two New York state cities rate very high.

New York City is #1 overall and Buffalo is #25, following measurements in metrics such as Costs, Traditions, Safety and Accessibility.

A few other interesting components of the study:

• Buffalo tied for #1 in most pretzel shops per capita
• New York City tied for first place in percentage of German restaurants per capita
• New York City is #1 in most accessible bars, but dead-last in cost of beer
• Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska, along with Madison, Wisconsin and Fort Wayne, Indiana tied for first with the highest percentages of German-American residents

Some cities have adopted their own unique traditions in the spirit of Oktoberfest, like Denver's Keg Bowling and Cincinnati's Running of the Weiners, which has nothing to do with Anthony Weiner's failed runs for political office.

As for Central New York, Syracuse already had its Oktoberfest celebration in early August. Others in the Mohawk Valley are scheduled for next month; stay tuned for our write-ups of those.

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