Oktoberfest Dallas returned this last Saturday, bringing large crowds, cold beer, bratwurst and serious Taylor Swift enthusiasm to Flag Pole Hill.
Gates opened at 10 a.m. after days of setup by Exchange Club of Lake Highlands members and volunteers, and stayed open until Cory Morrow finished playing around 10 p.m. Attractions like Oak Highlands Brewery’s Festival Hall, Vector Brewing’s Market Village and concerts at the Tate Gorman Memorial Stage headlined the festivities.
Red performs at Oktoberfest Dallas. Photo courtesy of the Exchange Club of Lake Highlands.
Attendance
Brad McCutcheon, the Exchange Club’s Oktoberfest chair, says that while final attendance numbers haven’t been finalized, the club is confident in a strong showing.
“I think our attendance was better than we could have hoped for,” McCutcheon said. “Obviously, we’re a weather driven event. When the weather is nice, people like to come out and hang out at Oktoberfest. When the weather is not nice, they don’t like to. We had great weather. We had sunshine, we had a little bit of a breeze during the day, and then the weather in the evening was great. So we’re expecting when the final numbers come in, to have really solid attendance.”
Attractions
At the Kids’ Zone, bounce houses whirred and groups like the Lake Highlands High School Wranglers performed for the neighborhood’s relentlessly growing youth population, which was well-represented at the family-friendly event.
LHHS Wranglers perform at Kids’ Zone. Photo courtesy of the Exchange Club of Lake Highlands.
At the Vector Brewing Market Village, rows of local vendor tents formed to the left of the main lawn. Local businesses like Mallory’s Cookie Jar and Outside, Texas sold wares well into the evening.
Higuyz Skateboards’ Booth at the Vector Brewing Market Village. Photo by Austin Wood.
Behind the main pavilion in the parking lot, food vendors like Strouderosa and Cane Rosso worked tirelessly to supply the crowd with festival bites, lunch and dinner. Vector Brewing, Oak Highlands Brewery and the King’s X Club sold quintessential festbiers and local craft brews at various locations around the park.
Matt Stroud of Strouderosa BBQ selling “Braterosas.” Photo by Austin Wood.
“Talking with all of them at the end of the night, they all seemed very happy we had long lines for everybody.” McCutcheon said. “All of our vendors out there had long lines, especially in the evening, and so I think they were really happy with the turnout and the volume.”
McCutcheon said that the Exchange Club’s volunteers and event partners, including the Dallas Police Department, Dallas Fire and Rescue, the Lake Highlands Women’s League and Junior Women’s League, were crucial to the event’s success. DPD provided security for the event, and DFD remained on-hand to respond to potential medical emergencies.
Performances
The Tate Gorman Memorial Stage, named in honor of a late Exchange Club member who was integral in the event’s inception, was moved to the bottom of the hill this year, as opposed to being set up on a side of the lawn.
“It allowed us to use the natural slope of Flagpole Hill as kind of an amphitheater setup,” McCutcheon said. “The feedback that we got from our sponsors on their sponsor tent locations was positive, and the feedback that we got from everybody who was there in the evening, especially for the concerts on the new stage location, was also positive”
Tate Gorman Memorial Stage seen from the top of Flag Pole Hill. Photo by Austin Wood.
Red, a Taylor Swift tribute band, took the stage following the keg tapping and Stein holding contest. Lookalike Lauren Cozine and her group played Swiftie classics from various stages of Swift’s career, ranging from recent pop hits to early career anthems.
“We had a lot of our younger students out there in the front row who were really excited about Red,” McCutcheon said. “They were right up front, next to the stage. So that was probably a unique opportunity for some of our younger attendees to be that close.”
After the tribute band bid farewell to the audience, younger crowds certainly thinned, but attendance remained strong for the headliner, Cory Morrow, who brought his Red Dirt ballads to Flag Pole Hill for the second time in three years.
“He put on a great show, like he always does, and so we were really excited to have him back, McCutcheon said. “I think everybody had a great time.”
Next year
Looking forward to next year, while the Exchange Club considers this years’ Oktoberfest a success, McCutcheon says there’s always room for growth.
“As our primary fundraiser, where we’re raising money for our scholarship programs and our community grants program, there’s always room for growth, because we’re always trying to generate more revenue and grow those programs so that we can put more money back into the community,” McCutcheon said.
