Lake George Oktoberfest
Lake George, New York
Lake George Oktoberfest is really two events in the village of Lake George, New York, both put on by Adirondack Pub and Brewery at 33 Canada Street. The Lake George Village Oktoberfest is a free three-day street festival on Canada Street across from Shepard Park over Columbus Day weekend - in 2026 its fifteenth edition runs Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 11, from noon to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The Adirondack Brewery Oktoberfest Charity Block Party follows on the Saturday after, October 17, 2026, from noon to 5 p.m. - a ticketed, 21-and-over tasting on Sewell Street beside the brewery, marking its twentieth year.
The village festival started in 2011 on Beach Road, moved to Canada Street in its second year, skipped only 2020, and has grown from a fifteen-vendor weekend into a celebration with close to 100 artisan vendors and an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people over the weekend - the 2024 edition drew more than 10,000, up from about 4,000 the year before. The program is nonstop German and polka music with traditional dancers such as the Edelweiss Schuhplattlers, a stein-hoisting contest run as a proper Masskrugstemmen, keg tossing, carnival rides, cornhole, giant Jenga and Connect 4, a giant chicken toss, axe throwing, and free pumpkin painting for kids. Well-behaved leashed dogs are welcome, free parking is in the High Peaks Distilling lot at 1 Canada Street, and the beer garden is cash only with ATMs on site. The kitchen goes through roughly 1,200 pounds of German sausages and about 20 gallons of house-made beer mustard in a weekend - bratwurst, knackwurst, and weisswurst on a roll, giant pretzels, German potato salad, and potato pancakes.
The beer garden pours Adirondack Brewery's own: an Oktoberfest lager at 6.2 percent, Bobcat Pilsner at 4.0, Lake George's IPA at 6.8, and Headwaters Hefeweizen at 4.3, plus local wine and cider and the brewery's Bear Wizz root beer for the kids. John Carr opened Adirondack Pub and Brewery in 1999 after ten years of homebrewing, and it brews with spring water drawn from the bedrock beneath Lake George. Carr has said the events are inspired by the traditions of Bavaria with a deliberately local emphasis, and that each one benefits a nonprofit that serves the community.
The Charity Block Party is the more serious tasting of the two. Sewell Street is closed and a stage built in the middle of it, and tickets - $55 in advance, $60 on the day, $15 for designated drivers in 2026 - include a five-ounce commemorative sampler stein, a $15 food voucher, and unlimited sampling of Adirondack Brewery beer and cider alongside close to 25 guest breweries, wineries, cideries, and meaderies, with recent guest lists including Mean Max, Common Roots, Northway, and Lake Placid. Expect nonstop polka, a costume contest at 3 p.m., keg tossing, stein hoisting, cornhole, and the dancing chicken. Around 1,000 guests attend, up from six breweries and about 150 people at the first edition. No pets, coolers, or lawn chairs, and a driver's license, military ID, or passport is required at the gate. Proceeds support Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Southern Adirondacks, now the event's permanent charity partner - the 2025 party raised more than $16,000 - and the block party has raised close to $150,000 for local causes over its twenty years, including the Ben Osborn Memorial Fund in 2024 and Lions Club Camp Abilities in 2022.
This page is the permanent home of the Lake George Oktoberfest on Beer.Social. When the next edition is announced we link the current dates and details here, and past editions are archived below.
Next edition
15th Annual Lake George Village Oktoberfest 2026 — October 9, 2026 – October 11, 2026 hosted by Adirondack Pub and Brewery. Event details and RSVP