Oktoberfest is a celebration of German heritage held every fall in La Crosse. While many festers celebrated by having a beer, the weekend was full of activities that could be enjoyed with or without a drink in hand.
“Oktoberfest is such an incredible cultural tradition of the La Crosse area,” said Miss La Crosse Oktoberfest, Vivian Stephenson. “There are so many things to do. There are so many things to see, and it’s fun for every generation.”
Over the course of the weekend two parades made their way through town. The Torchlight Parade kicked off Oktoberfest on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, and was filled with colorful lights and floats that glowed in the night.
The Maple Leaf parade was held the morning of Saturday, Sept. 27. Along with the official Oktoberfest floats, it featured numerous organizations from the local community and student marching bands from around the area.
Fester Maranda Pientok remembered back to her high school marching band days and said marching in the parades are some of her fondest Oktoberfest memories. She played for Holmen High School back when the marching bands were still judged for their performance in the parade.
“Getting first place multiple times and being the band to beat every year at Oktoberfest was my standing memory,” Pientok said.
She also reminisced with her friend Ashley Roellich about how the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Alumni Band would end the Maple Leaf Parade instead of following the Oktoberfest floats at the beginning.
“They [the UWL Alumni Band] used to be the end unit,” said Roellich, “And they used to be able to drink, so by the time they got down here to the fest grounds they were hammered. They couldn’t even play their instruments. They were falling all over saying hi to everybody. It was a hoot!”
Oktoberfest used to be held a few weeks later in the fall, during the middle of October, rather than the end of September. Roellich said she misses the cooler weather and spoke about the year it started snowing during the Maple Leaf Parade.
“I was sitting on my grandma’s lap, and I remember it vividly. Snow just started falling while the marching bands were coming down,” Roellich said.
This year Roellich and Pientok enjoyed the live music and said the band ‘Failure to Launch’ was a highlight of the weekend.
Stephenson also mentioned the music and dancing but emphasized her love of the lederhosen games.
“One of my favorite things was doing the lederhosen games,” Stephenson said. “I had topped the leaderboard for a little while in the grand toss, and I was actually beating both the men’s and the women’s scores which was pretty cool, so I loved that.”
Other activities from the weekend included the Tapping of the Golden Keg and the carnival held at the Northside Grounds. All of these activities and more will return for Oktoberfest next year from Sept. 24-27, 2026.
