The fifth Effingham Oktoberfest will be held on Sept. 26 and Sept. 27.
The Effingham County Chamber of Commerce will hold the annual outdoor festival at Rincon’s Freedom Park, located behind Rincon Chevrolet.
“The children’s activity area is being greatly expanded this year with the addition of bungee jumps, games, a petting zoo and an exciting water walk where kids get inside a giant clear ball and roll around on a shallow pool of water,” Chamber Director Rick Lott said.
Suncountry Amusements will have inflatables and a rock wall again. There will be with the pony rides and a hay play area.
The children's activities are free on Friday from noon to 3 p.m.
The Best Whiskers Contest will be held Friday night right after the opening ceremony at 6 p.m.
“There will be plenty of talented artists and craftsmen so you can get your Christmas shopping started early,” Lott said.
Local German restaurant the Schnitzel Shack will head up the food booth lineup. “We’ll have the best German food there, in addition to seafood, Caribbean Islands food, and all American food,” Lott said.
Lott said the Freedom Park location is ideal.
“It’s nice to have so much room to grow this event, and still be in sight of Highway 21,” he said. "We are already planning on bringing in new activities for the community to enjoy. One great advantage of this new home is that all our parking will be right here on site – no more need for running shuttles or worrying if there is enough space for parking.”
Lott said the festival will still feature the two large tents covering the stage and seating, as well as the beer trailers and tented seating there. Oompah Band, the Channelheimers, will be performing throughout the weekend. A kickoff ceremony will be held Friday at 6 p.m. honoring local Salzburger decendents and others. The Best Whiskers contest will take place at 6:30 p.m. following this ceremony
Music for Friday and Saturday will include slots for local musicians, entries for the Friday evening Battle of the Bands, and the stage itself is a permanent one. Winner of the Battle of the Bands will receive $500 and the opening act slot on Saturday night. Headlining this year will be Eric Lee Beddingfield, who is promoting his music video, “the Gospel According to Jones.” It marks the last video appearance of music great, George Jones. Eric and his band are coming from Nashville and will go onstage Saturday night about 8:30 p.m.
Presenting sponsor for this festival is Comcast, with Savannah Technical College sponsoring the music stage. Sponsors also include GA Power, Effingham Health System, Coca Cola, Rincon Chevrolet, Schnitzel Shack, Harold’s Body Shop, Effingham Herald, GeoVista Credit Union, Effingham Magazine, Enmark Stations, Ameris Bank, EFACEC, Verizon Wireless, HR Block, DeWitt Insurance, CST Covers, Heritage Bank of the South, Coldwell Banker Intercoastal Realty, State Farm Insurance-Ashley Boyette, Dusty Zeigler Insurance, Allgood Pest Control, Papa John’s Pizza, Effingham NOW, Effingham Parc Apartment Homes, City of Rincon, City of Guyton, Pruitt Health Hospice, Presnell Partners, Cash America Pawn, Everlasting Honeymoons and Vacations, State Sen. Jack Hill, State Rep. Jon Burns, the Tent Factory, AOK Portables, the Effingham IDA and more.
For Oktoberfest information, contact Rick Lott at 912-754-3301 or ricklott@effinghamcounty.com.