New for 2020 at Thorpe Park Resort; Oktoberfest! "Dust off your lederhosen and join us for an Oktoberfest event like no other!"
Be transported in the Islands Festival Centre and tuck into authentic german delights such as a cold Stein of Spaten, Bratwurst or a Black Forest Sundae.
With Oktoberfest being such a big event in Germany, Thorpe Park had some big shoes to fill. A big part of the festival is the entertainment and food. Taking to the stage for two performances a day, one at 5 pm - 6 pm and the other 7 pm-8 pm, Thorpe Park employed a group called The London Street Band to entertain guests. With traditional outfits and a large sousaphone, they had the crowd up and standing every performance we saw. Teaming up with the roaming ents team to keep guests socially distanced and having fun everyone did such a great job.
Roaming around select areas park and the festival arena was Helga and her friends. With their musical instruments, keyboards, glockenspiels, the barrel of music and a tringle! If you gave them a word, they would sing you a song! For some reason, the most popular word was Sussage or Beer? We cant work out why.
Oktoberfest isn't all about the beer, but the food! Lining the path down by Darren Browns Ghost Train was some temporary food carts. Supplying hungry guests with Bratwursts, Crepes, Pretzels and the team's favourites, chocolate brownies and pick a mix. Although the event was quite small, the select of food and beer was quite large. Hopefully, if the event does go ahead next year, we can see more food and a bigger area of space used.
As with every event at Thorpe Park, Oktoberfest received some limited-edition merchandise. From tops, pin badges and never seen before. Collectable steins! We didn't expect to see anything for the event but we were pleasantly surprised with what there was.
We managed to visit Oktoberfest at Thorpe Park on a few Fridays and Saturday whilst it was running and we have to say the atmosphere was amazing! Everyone was on their feet having a great time and keeping there distance from others. We couldn't recommend the event more!
Overall we were really impressed by Oktoberfest at Thorpe Park! If the event was to return next year, we would love to see it get bigger! Maybe even be hosted in the same space used by the old Fright Nights maze The Big Top opposite The Crust and next to Zodiac. With it being crammed in by Darren Browns Ghost Train the event was limited to only a few tables. It would also be great if there was entertainment throughout the day. However, we understand that if there was entertainment during the day it could have caused a crowd and with social distancing, would cause issues.
We thoroughly enjoy Oktoberfest and cant wait to see it grow in the future!
Oktoberfest runs from 7th September - 4th October 2020.
