Two Weeks, Two Oktoberfests

This end of the Main Line was just treated to two Oktoberfests (with a "k"), , and . It sounds like the Ardmore one was a big hit.  

Narberth’s fest followed a week later, on Saturday night, Oct. 1. The two big questions before the event were, “Will the baseball game be on?” and, “Will the rain give us a break for a few hours?”

Luckily there was good news in answering both questions. A big screen gave partiers a chance to watch the game while they chased down Jon McShea’s bratwursts with good beer. And in a huge stroke of luck, the rains held off until almost exactly 9 p.m., when the “Lucky Stiffs” were performing their last number, and the final kegs went dry. 

The four-hour event started slow, as people trickled in, fresh from last-minute instructions to the babysitter. The baseball game got off to a slow start too, as the home team went into an early hole. By the time the game turned around, the festival tents were packed, and there were big lines at the kegs and the pig roast. When the event came to a close, the remaining partiers braved the light rain to head to their respective favorite establishments in the triangle of Narberth downtown pubs.

The crowd of more than 200 came from Narberth, Wynnewood, Ardmore, Merion, and Bala Cynwyd, but there were a few from outside Lower Merion as well. Event organizers are tallying the receipts now, and seem confident that they’ve been successful in raising money for both the Narberth Fire Department and the Narberth Dickens Festival.