Nashville Oktoberfest — Attraction in Nashville-Davidson

SUMMARY. Overall, the experience was a good one. The event is centered at 5th and Jefferson in the heart of Germantown, right next to the Sounds stadium, Neighbors, Von Elrod's, etc. There were a ton of people, and the atmosphere was incredibly lively. We sat outside drinking great beer all day in beautiful weather. I would recommend going at least once if you live in Nashville. It is also a great activity for tourists, as well.

AMBIENCE. The ambience was very uplifting. Droves of fun-loving people flocked to what is my favorite part of Nashville (Germantown) to enjoy great beer in beautiful weather. It was just the kind of atmosphere you'd expect from a street fair or carnival.

VENUE. The venue itself was a block party centralized at 5th and Jefferson. There were several food trucks, and two large tents to procure beer from. The local establishments were also hopping, as you can imagine. Seating seemed sparse to the naked eye, but so many people wanted to stand or walk around that there didn't seem to be any issues with people finding a place to sit and enjoy the day. We had about 10 in our group and had no issues.

QUALITY. I didn't indulge in the food truck offerings, so I can only comment on the beer. I stuck to two beers: Oktoberfest and Festbier, both of which were very good. Definitely was not disappointed.

SERVICE. My only complaint was the lines, which were ridiculous. Beer was only sold at two tents, each of which subjected you to a line with a 30-minute (or greater) wait. By late afternoon, lines were closer to an hour. This was a drastic oversight by the venue's organizers, as they definitely left a lot of money on the table from people who would've otherwise spent much more. Our fix was to buy several beers each time we made it to the front of the line to minimize the frequency of tent trips. Still, this was not ideal, and I was very disappointed the lines were not better-managed.

PRICE. While there was no entry fee, it was not cheap. Beers were $12 + tip. Still, this was a street festival, so lofty prices are to be expected. I would have been much happier to pay the price for beer if the lines had been more manageable.

TAKEAWAYS. It is definitely worth checking out, but be wary of the long waits. Grabbing several beers at once partially ameliorated the wait time but was still not...

Unfortunately, the people at Monell’s have destroyed what used to be the best event in Nashville.

About 7 years ago Oktoberfest was inside the streets of Germantown, not out in the open at the park and on Jefferson. There were hundreds of vendors lining the side walks and the streets were closed. It felt super cozy and communal and had endless options for food, merch, and drinks. Fast forward to now and it’s completely unrecognizable. I understand that the growth would force you out of the streets, but unfortunately they’ve been coasting off of their old reputation for years now.

Oktoberfest now is pathetic, and charging an entrance fee while offering less than ever is insulting. The festival is the smallest it’s ever been, with hardly any vendors (and none of them being German themed) the food is absolutely disgusting overall, with a couple of local food trucks but with most of the options being wildly overpriced generic fair food vendors who don’t list their prices so they can scam unsuspecting customers. $30 for a turkey leg, $28 for a blooming onion, etc). There is nothing there for kids or families since the vendors are selling blinds, CBD, or knives and they’ve slowly gotten rid of the carnival rides they’ve had previously.

And if you don’t care about any of that, and just care about beer, they’ve screwed that up too. They used to offer 4 or more types of imported German beer. Lines were long and it was pricey, but good and authentic. Now, they have 2 sometimes (they will sell out) and a couple of local beers for a high price.

I keep waiting for someone to actually put effort into Oktoberfest again, someone with pride in their work, but as long as Monell’s is in control of things they’ll just continue to milk what money they can from it until it shrinks out of existence. The only bright side is that since they’ve dropped the ball so spectacularly, other Germantown businesses are picking up their slack and hosting their own, much...

VENDORS AVOID THIS ONE!

The event coordinator is not truthful about attendance numbers and overbooked food vendors by more than double. Many of us barely made back the vendor fee. This event put our small business in a deep financial hole due to deceit by the coordinator and now they refuse to speak with us. We vet events carefully and we’ve never been wrong. It seems like the coordinator depends on vendors to fund this event. I would not even set up at this event for free, that is how low our numbers were for four days…huge waste of our time and money. Tons of food wasted.

Also, as a vendor we have never worried about theft from our truck. Someone stole the cannolis we had on display. We watched a woman throw a can of soda at another vendors face. Not a safe event and they force you to leave your food truck/trailer there without offering a parking spot for your personal vehicle to commute each day and all at your own risk. The coordinator, who has a restaurant a block away from the event, has a parking spot for their vehicle at the event.

No electric included in the vendor fee, no personal vehicle parking, no potable water refill, gas refill for generator, no propane refill and they force you to keep your truck/trailer there for four days at your own risk. This was not disclosed to us until a week before the event.

This is supposed to be the longest running event in Nashville yet the coordinator is so far off on the numbers. How is that possible without...