Strap On The Lederhosen And Enjoy Guilt Free Suds Oktoberfest Returns
Community: FOB Taproom
Story and Photos by Tyler Francke
Rise and Stein
Rinse your steins and dust off your lederhosen, as Oktoberfest returns to Canby’s Wait Park, Sept. 16 and 17. Known as FOBtoberfest, in honor of the event’s main organizer and sponsor, FOB Taproom, the second annual event promises authentic German food, beer, music and more.
After hosting smaller iterations of FOBtoberfest at the FOB Taproom for several years, owner Steve Puga and his team decided to launch it as a full community event in 2022.
Initially a one-day celebration, FOBtoberfest welcomed several thousand people to sample dozens of carefully selected imported and domestic craft beers and beverages, as well as enjoy live polka music and German fare. Guests also tried their hands at traditional games and challenges like keg rolling and stein holding.
“The first year was kind of a trial,” Steve explains. “We were asking the community, ‘Is this something you want to see?’ And, given their response, we feel like the answer was ‘Oh, heck yeah.’”
Steve praised the City of Canby and his own team of staff members, friends and volunteers for their assistance in making last year’s inaugural FOBtoberfest a resounding success.
“The city was great,” he says. “They saw what we had been doing here at FOB for Oktoberfest, just in-house, and that’s kind of what first prompted us to talk with the city last year and look at scaling it up. So this year, we’re going to continue building on what we started in 2022 and really expand in a lot of ways that people were asking for.”
The move to a two-day event is in an effort to better accommodate people’s schedules, Steve says. This year’s event will also include more dining options, games and entertainment, as well as a cashless system that will make purchasing food and drinks smooth and seamless.
FOBtoberfest is modeled on the original Oktoberfest — a 16-day annual beer fair and folk festival held in Munich, Germany — and closer to home, the famed Mt. Angel Oktoberfest, which is the largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.
At its core, the event is a celebration of German food, music and culture, as well as the fruits of a harvest. Canby’s FOBtoberfest is a laid-back, family-friendly affair, Steve says, that is open to all — especially those who have never been to an Oktoberfest event before.
“The most important thing about FOBtoberfest is that it’s really community-based,” Steve explains. “We wanted to give Canby the opportunity to attend an Oktoberfest event and have a great time in their own community.”
Steve has long harbored a love of German beer halls, cultivated during his previous career as a globe-trotting professional in the world of supply chain logistics, and this is reflected at the FOB Taproom, where German flags, soccer club logos, beer signs, wall art and other decor line the walls.
“Anybody who knows FOB, knows we’re about a genuine love of German beers,” Steve says. “Just that feeling of walking into a German beer hall and it’s kind of like [the TV show] ‘Cheers.’ It’s the community pub, and everybody knows your name. That’s the whole premise behind what we try to do every day.”
His event has also been inspired by the area’s German heritage. In the pioneer days, a sizable contingent of first- and second-generation German immigrants settled in Canby and the surrounding communities, and a number of families made their mark.
“There is a lot of German history and German influence in this area,” Steve says. “And that was kind of paramount when my wife and I decided to buy this and transform it into what it is now, knowing about that German thread that runs through Canby.”
FOBtoberfest attendees will have no shortage of beers to choose from, with a menu of more than a dozen rare German beers carefully selected by Steve and his team. Bavarian-style bratwurst and pretzels, among other authentic flavors, will be offered from Ebner’s Custom Meats, B’s Bake Shoppe and King’s Farm to Table.
And the air will be filled with traditional German folk music and drinking songs, including several oompah bands. Don’t miss it.
The second annual FOBtoberfest will be held noon to 9 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 16, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 17, at Wait Park in downtown Canby. For more information, visit the FOB Taproom at 1109 S.W. First Avenue, Suite D, or fobtaproom.com. You can also call 503-263-2337 or send FOB an email at info@fobtaproom.com.
