Oktoberfest — Local services in Huntington Beach

Oom Pah Pa!

My inaugural visit to Old World Huntington Beach's Okotoberfest, and Old World HB in general, due to the fact I won tickets at the OC Autoshow from Jack FM.

Pondering upon which day to go, I decided Sunday Kinderfest (Family Fun Day) w/ dachshund races would be ideal. Caveat - I rarely drink, especially in public, and I wasn't going to during my visit to Oktoberfest. Heed my sober star rating, accordingly.

The premises the festival is held on is surprisingly & spartanly compact. The dachshund race track is surrounded by vendors, food & merch, along with carnival games for the kids.

Libations of all sorts are flowing, provided you cough up some beaucoup bucks.

Doing reconnaissance on the prices of various pastries, such as apple strudel, at the various marketplaces which inhabit Old World HB, I decided to go with the advice of one of the merchandise vendors and purchase one of the sugary sweet treats from the banquet hall spread.

Not wanting to pay $5 for a miniscule slice of apple strudel, nor $11 for a funnel cake, I decided upon 2 $3 Berliners (chocolate glazed & custard)- A tad on the dry side, the chocolate glazing & custard of each respective Berliner helped redeem them. The chocolate was not too sweet, and the custard provided much needed moisture to a seemingly not fresh donut.

While helping myself to the aforementioned pastries, I took in the rousing live music from the resident Oom Pah Pa band.

After doing a few circuits in & around the festival grounds, I quickly had my fill of Oktoberfest at Old World HB. The congestion, both from humans and from pet dachshunds, quickly got on my nerves. The crowd & I kept bumping into each other, which would undoubtedly become worse as the afternoon carried on, as the drinks kept flowing & as the blood alcohol of those in attendance kept rising.

The regular parking lots at Old World are quickly occupied. Signs direct drivers to an adjacent medical office parking structure for complimentary parking.

Well, I'm glad I took the time to experience Oktoberfest at Old World Huntington Beach. However, I would've been really perturbed had I actually paid for tickets. The festival is quite small & severely lacking. I was quite content with my $1.50 Costco all beef hot dog earlier in the day, with nary an inclination to pay $8+ for a bratwurst. I don't see myself coming back again. But, I did leave with a nice...

What a nightmare. A highly overpriced nightmare… So granted I went on a Saturday night so I got the worst of it. But an event of this caliber should not be charging people money for such a miserable experience; they really should limit the capacity and cap ticket sales. First off, the line just to get in was well over an hour and wrapped through/around the entire Old World Village. Then I finally paid $40 just for admission, and for what? Just to be overwhelmingly packed in like sardines and pay literally $20 for one beer, wait another 30+ minutes in line to buy some food, and be forced to eat said food standing up like a barn animal because table space is nonexistent. The only tables in the event were reserved by people who paid even more money to have a table to sit at. If you didn’t buy a table there is quite literally nowhere to sit down at all even for a moment. Not to mention that even with a crowd this size, the facility only has ONE single-stall restroom! (One of each, men’s and women’s). I don’t know, maybe it would’ve been fun if it weren’t so over-crowded. But it felt like a greedy, disgusting money grab. Don’t charge me a steep admission just to make me pay $20 for a beer and have no where to eat the food that I...

Feeling disappointed about Oktoberfest... The Weiner dog races were so crowded I couldn't see. My daughter squeezed in and was able to get a view. My husband wasn't allowed to watch because he bought a beer beforehand...strange that beers are prohibited during an Oktoberfest celebration...but oh well. We decided to cut our losses after 10 minutes and go over to the Oktoberfest as I had bought tickets for that as well. The line was insane. You'd think there'd be a separate line for ticket holders and ticket purchasers. Nope. Everyone in one (very) long line. Once you get to the check in, you have to wait in another line for a metal detector. There's literally nothing to do once you get in. There's very overpriced food and drinks and absolutely no where to sit and eat. Most tables are"reserved". Inside the main building there's a band playing and a dance floor. You get nothing for your tickets except to walk into an area to buy food. Waste of money. Luckily, I had put my name in at the restaurant while we waited in line to get into Oktoberfest...we went there, ate dinner, and had drinks instead.. The restaurant was amazing and much cheaper. I would never pay for tickets to Oktoberfest again. Next year we'll just go to...