Monroe Oktoberfest

From information on their website, this is the first year for the Monroe Oktoberfest and they certainly did a nice job. The festival is held at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds. Parking is free, but there is an admission fee. The activities are held indoors, so bad weather (like today) is not a problem. However, the building is a long walk from the parking area and there was no signage to guide fair goers to the entrance or venue. The ticket booths are at the entrance of the building.
Inside, there is plenty of room and several long rows of banquet tables. The food offerings were not extensive and there was not much to choose from in the way of authentic German fare (ie: German «gyros», corn dogs, curly fries, etc…) which was disappointing. We finally found a booth that offered pork schnitzel and bratwurst which were both okay. (In looking at other Oktoberfests in the area, the names of the same restaurants appear… thinking this is a «pre-​packaged» Oktoberfest that just travels to various venues… seen one, seen ‘em all.)
The entertainment was pleasant: a German band replete with lederhosen-​wearing musicians, dancers, and bell ringers. There is plenty to do for the children, pumpkin painting, games, and the band even lets them join in the bell ringing. And the addition of Seattle actress/​comedienne, Manuala Horn
was fun… a little surreal performance art amid the traditional entertainment.
There were also a few booths of German knickknacks and cookies to buy.
This was a good start to a new event. I hope that as time goes on, organizers will consider having more homemade fare (ie, getting more community members, churches, German clubs, etc. involved) and increase the signage for newcomers. There was plenty of parking right next to the building, but it was fenced off and locked… puzzling…