Baywood Park's 47th Oktoberfest Starts With Coffee This Year

The 47th Annual Oktoberfest takes over 2nd Street in Baywood Park on Sunday, October 25, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free. The Los Osos/Baywood Park Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club of Bay Osos are the organizers. Several things are new this year, and they all point the same way. The morning is now aimed at coffee rather than beer. The pier end of the street gets its own stage for local groups. And the new beer tasting has seats for just five people.

The beer garden is still at the center of the day. Most of what happens around it this year, though, comes from Los Osos itself.

The first ninety minutes are new

The Chamber added a Biergarten Morning Party that runs from 9 to 10:30 a.m., with Funk Junket on the main stage. The first 100 people who pick up a free Biergarten ticket get half a dozen mini donuts and a free cup of SLO Roasted Coffee. Coordinator Gary Freiberg told Estero Bay News that the morning is "a non-alcohol-focused event" with no admission charge.

In the same Estero Bay News preview, Freiberg pictured how that hour plays out:

"They're a great group to dance or listen to, or to hear as a person walks along 2nd Street checking out the vendors with their coffee and donuts."

Two other events start at about the same time. The Fun Run goes off at 9 a.m. from the Baywood Park Boat Dock at 1391 2nd St. It's a four-mile course "Along the Bay," with a water station at the turnaround. Registration is on race day only, from 7 to 8:45 a.m., and costs $30. The Chamber lists the MBHS Athletic Boosters as the beneficiary. Up the street, the 19th Annual Car & Motorcycle Show sets up at 2nd Street and Santa Maria Avenue. Day-of registration opens at 7 a.m., the show runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and show vehicles enter from Santa Ysabel and 2nd Street.

Before 10 a.m., the runners are out on the bay course, the show cars are lining up at Santa Maria Avenue and the coffee line is forming in the Biergarten.

The pier end gets a stage of its own

The other new piece this year is a Community Stage at the pier end of 2nd Street. The Chamber says it will feature "local performers, organizations, and presenters." The groups confirmed so far:

• Team Moreira Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
• Bay Osos Line Dancers
• The Big Rock Balalaika Group

Billy Burke is coordinating the second stage. Estero Bay News reports that the lineup includes a jiu jitsu demonstration and dance demos. The Chamber is asking for Community Stage sponsorships starting at $25, and it has a sign-up for groups that want to perform.

The new stage also changes how the street is laid out. The main stage sits in the Biergarten at 2nd Street and Santa Maria Avenue. The Fun Run starts and finishes at the boat dock by the pier. With programs at both ends and vendors lining the blocks in between, the whole length of 2nd Street is part of the festival. Estero Bay News says those vendors include craft and food sellers, plus local nonprofits running information booths.

The main stage runs on Los Osos bands

Freiberg told Estero Bay News that all three bands on the main stage are from Los Osos. Here's how the day lays out across both ends of the street:

Freiberg also emcees the Saturday Concerts on the Green at Sea Pines, and he told Estero Bay News that hearing so many bands there let him choose some of the better ones for Oktoberfest. He said B & The Hive has headlined shows at Mission Plaza in San Luis Obispo and plays both originals and covers. The Santa Cruz Family Band, which closes the day, features Bobby Santa Cruz and his daughter Rachel Santa Cruz. The Morro Bay High cheerleaders are back for a cheer demonstration, their fifth year at the event.

Five seats at the tasting table

The beer is still part of the day, but the new Oktobertaste keeps it small. From 11 to 11:45 a.m., five people get a blind flight with a sample from each of the eight brewers pouring in the Biergarten. A raffle picks the five tasters. There are 100 tickets at $5 each, sold at the gate and by assistants walking through the crowd, and the proceeds go to the Chamber. The Chamber says plainly that "This is not a competition," just a side-by-side comparison of what each taster likes.

That makes the odds of landing a seat 1 in 20, if all 100 tickets sell. Freiberg told Estero Bay News the full flight adds up to about a pint of beer over roughly an hour. You have to be 21 to drink anywhere at the festival.

Costumes, and getting there on two wheels

The 2 p.m. costume contest has three categories: kids, pets and adults. Winners are picked by crowd applause. With Halloween six days away, there will be costumes on the street well before 2 p.m.

One group is arriving in costume on purpose. Kidical Mass is leading a Halloween ride to Oktoberfest from 11 a.m. to noon, meeting at Santa Maria Avenue and 1st Street beside the Merrimaker. Costumes are encouraged, and bike parking is provided. Show cars enter from Santa Ysabel, and 2nd Street is full of vendors and stages all day, so riding in from the 1st Street side makes sense for families coming from the neighborhood.

Estero Bay News also reports a harvest-themed photo booth and a kids' play zone. Food vendor spaces are already full. Car show entries cost $40 per car and $20 per motorcycle. The Chamber says the money supports the show, the Chamber itself, donations to local schools and scholarships. The Fun Run fees, car show entries and Oktobertaste raffle all benefit local organizations.

The rest of the costume week

Oktoberfest falls in the middle of a full week of local events:

• Saturday, October 24, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.: The Neighborhood Fall Festival at El Morro Church, 1480 Santa Ysabel Ave., with inflatables, food, trunk-or-treat and a silent disco.
• Sunday, October 25, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.: Oktoberfest on 2nd Street, with the Kidical Mass ride arriving from 1st Street around midday.
• Saturday, October 31, 2 to 6 p.m.: The Halloween Dance Party at Sea Pines Resort, 1945 Solano St., with Unfinished Business playing live. Costume judging runs from 2 to 5 p.m., and awards are at 5:30 p.m.

On Sunday, October 25, coffee and Funk Junket start at 9 a.m. at Santa Maria Avenue, and the Santa Cruz Family Band finishes the main stage at 5 p.m.

If the walk between the Biergarten and the pier has you curious about the blocks along 2nd Street, and you're weighing a move closer to the pier end or anywhere else in Los Osos, Susie Brans is glad to walk you through how the blocks around 2nd Street differ. Schedule a consultation whenever you're ready.