We had a blast, great venue and fantastic beer. There was quite a lot to see and do.

Clayton Oktoberfest is always a must-do! Small town charm that turns out a great event, year after year. (Insider tip: skip the $10 glass and just buy drink tickets. The beer/wine/cider booths have plastic cups!) Great vendors that slightly change from one year to the next. Some all time favorites that show up every time! Fun food fare. Don't skip the extra large Bavarian pretzels! YUM! Take a break from the heat (damn global warming!) and head to the large tent near the food vendors to enjoy the shade and some classic Oktoberfest music and dancing! Family fun event that has carnival rides, shopping, liquid libations, tummy treats! If you're a local, you always bump into someone that you know. read more

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As usual we arrived at 11am and were dismayed to find we could not purchase drink tickets as no one had them or any way to pay until 11:40am. Okay fine. Went to buy a pretzel and found we could not enter food court area with our dog. So one of us had to sit out with the dog while the other checked the food vendors out. Kind of a pain in the rear, but I understand. By 1pm though, dogs were entering with no one seeming to notice. Pretzels were a big let down as ours was crispy hard, cold and $13.00! Returned first pretzel for another which was a little better, just still cold like out of the freezer cold. Beers $12 each but we did buy the tall glass. Music for the first 45 minutes was Cinco de Mayo themed and off putting for those of us there for the Oktoberfest vibe. Also the high school kids performing/singing seemed very out of place for the Oktoberfest. What the heck. Seemed a bit less of an Oktoberfest with too many vendors selling junk. Some good vendors with actual German products, some handmade items and art. Still had a nice time just disappointed in the overall experience. read more

Clayton Oktoberfest - Festivals Near Me - Clayton, California

This was my first year attending and I found it to be an enjoyable family-friendly event. They turn the Downtown Clayton area into a walkable festival, which does get very crowded. You have to maneuver around the lines of people waiting to buy food and beer, but if you're patient, you can make your way through swiftly. There are picnic tables under a large tent where the band plays and people are dancing the polka and of course, the chicken dance : ) If you don't get a seat at one of the tables, you can perch on one of the benches lining the sides of the tent. Since the festival goes into the evening, it's easy to get a seat half-way through the day as people arrive and leave. Kids have fun on the carnival rides and winning big stuffed animals while playing games. The food is also good and priced as one would expect at an outdoor festival. Example, giant pretzels are $9. For those who don't drink beer, there are cider and wine options as well. Clayton is such a small town that you can park practically anywhere nearby and easily walk over. *Note: Arrive early for the traditional beer tapping ceremony at 12:00 p.m. read more

Beautiful day at the Clayton, Ca., Oktoberfest. This little town is the perfect place to have festival's. The people are so welcoming. This was our second year coming to the Oktoberfest. The Bratwurst and sauerkraut was tasty along with my Oktoberfest beer. There are booths for crafts, rides for the little people, and plenty of beer and food for everyone. Live German music is being played over loud speakers to make the event very festive. They have a tent over tables where you can sit down, eat and listen to the Internationals, a German band that was very entertaining. At 12:00 they had the traditional tapping of the first keg starting the traditional day of music and Oktoberfest! And the giant pretzels! If you ate too much, you can always take a pretzel to go. They have large zip lock bags. A fun and joyful time!!!! read more

OK, this isn't anything like a true Fest in Germany, but it's decent for America. This is a much smaller festival tan the one in Oakland, it crosses a few blocks down main street in Clayton. They had the usual tents with jewelery and other knick knacks, but crucially they had things that make this Oktoberfest more authentic. Rides: this may seem silly, and they only had kiddie rides, but Oktoberfest in Munich has a lot of rides. Drinks: German beer! Also schnapps! Food: Yes they had American food, but they had a stand with sausage and sauerkraut! German Music playing Beer Tent: This really was a tent with tables that you could sit and eat or drink. While not like the "tents" at Oktoberfest, it was right by the music, food and a few beer stands. Cheers to Oktoberfest! read more

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We moved to the East Bay in the beginning of Summer and obviously wanted to find the suburban life that we left the City for. When September rolled around, I began to look for Oktoberfest events in Contra Costa County and read many good things about Clayton's. We swung by on Saturday afternoon not knowing what to expect and were very pleasantly surprised. It was every bit as crowded and had a similar variety of booths as any SF street fair. We strolled into the garden for food and were pleased by the variety and value. We grabbed some beverages and found a couple of seats in the tent and had a great time! After lunch we walked around the fair and checked out the rest of the vendors. We enjoyed ourselves so much that on Sunday we came back for just an hour to have lunch and a beer. Good times, next year, I am demanding that my friends come out to the burbs and go with us! There are a couple of wish-they-hads but kept us from getting drunk so probably a good thing ;-) 1. Bigger selection of beers - though I really liked the dunkel 2. Cider sold in more than one spot read more

This was the worst, they clearly didn't have a enough help. The lines for tickets was entirely way to long and not enough help in the booth. The beer lines were ridiculously to long,most of the booths had just 2 to 3 people working in them. They were trying hard to keep up but they were overwhelmed. There was 1 booth that had 4 people working and that was the only line that went fast and they were very friendly. I bought 4 tickets and gave 1 away just because I didn't want to stand in line anymore. In the past years the line moved very well but not this year. Looking forward to next year. read more

I absolutely love this octoberfest! In the Bay Area it seems to be limited on octoberfest celebration's. There is one in San Francisco at pier 29 I like, but I love the city of Clayton's octoberfest Tapping of the keg promptly at 12 great tradition, authentic German food, love the spätzle, potatoes salad combination, pretzels are homemade and of course brats and beer!!!! Great live music love the Germany band, I my self am a big fan of the chicken dance, love the accordion. Over all excellent experience Food music atmosphere, great fun vibe even some rides for the Kiddy's Because it's family friendly with lots of activities and plenty of shopping as well! Must see! read more

So I haven't been to a real Oktoberfest in Germany and as such do not qualify as an expert. There were many things Ioved about this festival and things I think could be improved upon. All in all the people were so nice I'm pretty sure I'll go back next year: Loved: -No admission fee! The Beer Mug was $5 and each beer was $5 -Parking was easy and free. Just parked at the Clayton library across the street, walked through a small tunnel and bam! we were there. Really nice! The folks in attendance were of all ages including older folks and kids. This didn't seem like an overgrown frat party but instead some of the nicest people you'd want to encounter at an Oktoberfest. Genuinely nice. Good moods...open to sharing their table, singing along and dancing to the music and very cheerful! -The beers (Dark Ale, Oktoberfest Amber, Hefeweizen, and a super light one too were of good quality and a fair price. -The German bank playing under the tent was a great band and my son danced to the chicken song -There was enough of a selection of foods, including German foods for all tastes. -Lots of carnival rides for the little kids and even a small 'Root Beer Garten' -No one was acting rowdy from being excessively drunk. Cons: -Only 4 beers to choose from. I think they should have at least 5 or 6 -They need FANS in 'Bier Garten' (big tented area with tables and no air flow). It's too much to ask to put hundreds of bodies on a hot day crowded next to each other and drinking alcohol at that. FANS PEOPLE! -Some of the food was not very good and the signs were not clear on pricing. If you asked you could order Terriaki Chicken skewers a la carte for only $8 but they sign said it cost $12 with noodles or rice...so I got one of each for $24. What a rip off! The noodles and fried rice were inedible. -One of the vendors serving big sausages on rolls for $8 was very skimpy on the Sauerkraut and many patrons were complaining because this is an OKTOBERFEST!! -A lady selling crochet clothing was very rude when my jewelry snagged on her top. Maybe she should have a sign asking that all jewelry be removed before trying anything on. She yanked my bracelet from her clothing so hard it nearly broke it. Too bad cause if she hadn't been so rude she'd have had a sale. read more

My Saturday afternoon at the Clayton Octoberfest was not great. You cannot find parking anywhere near the event. So I got dropped at the Elementary school and walked into town. The first thing I noticed was the overcrowded conditions. Oh, well, I'll get a cold beer or two and people watch. I stood in a long line to buy a mug and 3 beer tickets for $25. Then I noticed the beer lines were 20 + people deep. Not good, the beer lines block the crowds trying to walk by. I stood in a beer line for 10 minutes and it didn't move. If I had seen the beer lines I would not have purchased the mug and tickets. After working my way out of that mess; I called for a ride and got out of Dodge. One good thing is there are plenty of portable toilets. I'm going back earlier today to use my tickets and try to enjoy the event. I'll update my review after that. I hope it goes better. read more

Nice Oktoberfest: good beer, fun music and giant pretzels. What more can you ask fro? Prost!

Disclaimer: I've never been to Oktoberfest in Munich. This Oktoberfest lasted 2 days. The festival is kind of small, but offers free admission which is a huge plus. There were several rides, nothing too different from what you would see at a fair or festival around here (ferris wheel, boardwalk games, few kid rides, gravity ride). The street is lined with small shops selling various knick knacks. There are about 10 restaurants selling German food. I was really hoping they would have currywurst, but it was mostly stereotypical German food - lots of wursts and some sauerkraut. There were also non-German food stands in case you wanted something different. Of course there was beer and of course it would be Hofbrau beer. In fact, the music/seating area tent was decorated with Hofbrau flags and German flags. As an update from previous reviews, beer was $7 for the beer mug and for each beer. While you make think this beer is very overpriced, you are unable to find some of the varieties in stores, like BevMo. They also sold schnapps. I would come back to visit again some time in the future. read more

It's overrun with people.! Not enough seating in the main Beer Tent. Because this event is free to get in and they have Carnival rides for the kids it's a free for all. Ran out of one of the beers! We love The Internationals but won't go to this one again. The drunks at The Clayton Club-what a show! A shout out to one of the bouncers or door security who was able to direct our Uber driver in the back way for our ride back to our hotel. read more

One of the best festivals I have ever been to! The Internationals band was fantastic. I had no idea how much fun German music, and dancing could be. The German's and German's at heart know how to party. Something for everyone, kids to seniors. read more

Come out to the Clayton Oktoberfest on October 1 & 2 in downtown Clayton. New this year will be the Weltenburger Barock Dunkel beer. This beer is brewed at the oldest monastery brewery in Germany and will not disappoint. Hofbrau beers will also be on tap as well as The Internationals who are back to entertain you for 2 wonderful days at the Oktoberfest. read more