OLDS — The 2022 edition of Oldstoberfest, the first and only professionally-sanctioned Bavarian rodeo, is coming up fast.
This year, the event, which combines a traditional rodeo with German culture, is scheduled to take place Sept. 16-17.
Organizers are thrilled to be able to hold it in person again after it was cancelled for a couple of years due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The action is mostly centred on the Olds Regional Exhibition grounds, although a pancake breakfast Saturday morning will be held at the Canadian Tire parking lot at the west end of town.
Mutton busting will take place Friday and Saturday at 5:30 p.m., followed by professional rodeos, starting at 6 p.m. each evening.
As it’s one of the last rodeos of the season, participants will be battling fiercely for positions in the Canadian Finals Rodeo.
Then, starting at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, the rodeo will be followed by an outdoor classic rock concert featuring the Canadian AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who.
On Saturday, Sept. 17, the pancake breakfast, provided by the Olds & District Chamber of Commerce, will begin at 9 a.m.
Former Olympic wrestler Danielle Lappage of Olds is expected to be on hand for that breakfast, as are the Oldstoberfest rodeo queens. Later, Lappage and the rodeo queens are expected to participate in Alberta Culture Days festivities in Centennial Park.
A Picket Fence Market will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
At 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Canadian country artist Andrew Hyatt will perform. Hyatt was named an “artist to watch,” by Entertainment Tonight Canada.
An Indoor biergarten will be held Friday and Saturday nights at 9:30 p.m.
“We are thrilled that Oldstoberfest is back for 2022,” Trish Seitz of C5 Rodeo wrote in an email.
