Next month will see the return of Oldstoberfest -- a fusion of Bavarian and western culture, complete with cowboys competing in a pro rodeo.
Organizers tout it as the world's only Bavarian rodeo.
A media launch to promote Oldstoberfest was held Aug. 1 at the Olds College wetlands.
This year's edition will run for two days Sept. 14 and 15 at the Olds Regional Exhibition grounds with Canadian Pro Rodeo Association (CPRA) sanctioned rodeos.
This will mark the third edition of the event and the second in consecutive years. The first one was held in 2015. Then last year, organizers decided to run it annually.
A big addition to the rodeo aspect of the event is that the rodeos will be live-streamed on FloRodeo (a part of FloSports) that has over 150,000 international subscribers.
One of the biggest and most notable changes from last year is that once again, Oldstoberfest will feature two concerts. That happened in 2015 as well.
“We’re thrilled to come back again with two concerts, a classic rock concert on Friday night, which will be Honeymoon Suite, and the James Barker Band on Saturday,” said Trish Seitz, C5 rodeo liaison.
In addition to the rodeo and concerts there will also be the return of the previously highly successful Picket Fence Market on Saturday in the Cow Palace.
“They will have high quality vendors that come in specifically for this event. It was so well attended last year, it was one of the biggest surprises for us,” said Seitz.
Also in the evenings there will be the biergarten, which will have live bands inside and it will be decorated to make guests feel like they are in the “heart” of Germany.
Several speakers -- including Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper -- highlighted how unique the event is in the pantheon of rodeos.
“So many amazing things happen at Oldstoberfest. One of the things that’s so great about it is we do something so different," Cooper said.
“Our region is innovative, forward-looking. We want to do things that have a benefit to our entire community and that’s exactly what Oldstoberfest is.”
