Local

Tapping of the keg draws big crowd at festgrounds

Published

6 years ago

September 28, 2018

The keg has been tapped and it’s time to party.

The 2018 Oktoberfest got its official start at the southside festgrounds Friday morning, as Festmaster Mike Keil started pouring Old Style brew from the Golden Keg.

The opening ceremony featured the national anthems of the U.S. and Germany and also Canada, performed by visitors from a festival at Winnipeg.

The sounds of Friday morning included toasts of ‘Ein Prosit’, polka music all around, and the “thunk” of axe-tossing.

Cages for axe-throwing are located a short distance from the big outdoor stage, and close to where fest-goers can test their skill at tossing a 50-pound bag full of grain.

Related Topics:featured Golden Keg oktoberfest

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.