Great Northwest Oktoberfest in Whitefish Has Been Cancelled

Guess what! It's 2020! You know what that means!

If you guessed "another popular event has been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns," you guessed right! Like almost everything these last few months, the 11th Annual Great Northwest Oktoberfest - which can often bring in over 1500 people from across the country per night - has been cancelled.

Normally, this is an event that spans two weekends in Whitefish across September and October, but it was decided that the big crowds expected would make social distancing basically impossible.

The Whitefish Chamber of Commerce is planning to put the festival on again next year at Depot Park, but for now, another major event has been crossed off the list. We always hear about how much we've missed concerts or big weddings or going to the movies, but the pandemic has really affected everything. Normally, we'd have had a few brewfests around Montana for the summer, and this year, Missoula only had one - the socially-distant Last Best Brewfest at Ogren Park, one of the only places in town capable of delivering on open spaces for big events like this.

I was at the Last Best Brewfest, and it was so nice to be out and sampling beer again, but it was a much different feel than your normal beer festival. Hopefully, by the time September 2021 rolls around, things can be back to normal and The Great Northwest Oktoberfest can move forward as planned.

Are you bummed about the Oktoberfest being cancelled?