I saw a Groupon deal for Sunday Fun Day $25 for VIP tickets for unlimited drinks. Bonuses were that we got a free bottle opener,souvenir stein to carry our drinks in, free pickles, speck and sausage in the VIP tent and a pretzel necklace to munch on while you try all the beers and liquors you want. Plus a good variety of German food. I totally recommend the potato pancakes I think it was 2 for $5.00 it's like a steal because they are so good and so crispy they have apple sauce or sour cream if want. The brautwarst sandwich was just as good as when I had it in Austria. Perfect snap when you bite into in. Only negative I have is that they did run out of a few beers mainly the pumpkin beers which bummed me and my friend out but we made due and since Sunday was the last day they rushed us out of the venue as quickly as possible. Major buzzkill.But another bonus they gave us soft pretzels on the way out lol.Other then that I had a positive experience and will probably have to go again. read more

See all

This event needs to be held at a much bigger venue, or they need to limit ticket sales more. There was a line out the door to bathrooms at all times, to the point where bathroom attendants had tip jars out (and in exchange they stayed right there cleaning constantly. Not bad!) The indoor part of the festival was packed shoulder to shoulder. Getting anywhere meant ducking through gaps when you could, and otherwise shuffling along with a crowd so dense I could feel the texture of people's clothing on my arms. I had to take my contact lenses out, because of the smoke from the indoor BBQ, and with people smoking the cigars that were for sale, my eyes started burning. It got better once the plastic was out though so for people who don't wear contact lenses it probably wasn't an issue. I noticed that the stage was a bit too close to the indoor merchant area; the crowd was backed up into the building, blocking about 20 booths as well as one of the bathrooms. There was a literal wall of people all the way up to the Yelp.com booth. On the PLUS side: For a beer festival I was impressed with the low level of drunkenness. I was there all day and only saw 2 people leaning on each other. I didn't see a single fight. No one who talked to me was slurring their speech. I did see a group of young men playing a hand slapping game; if anyone spilled beer, everyone in their group took turns slapping their hand as hard as they could for the sacrilegious act of shame. Any time anyone broke a glass, a group "Ohh!!" would sound through the entire crowd. It was hilarious. I brought a huge stein with me, and in hindsight it wasn't very nice of me. People who had paid $35 for the 4 oz tasting tumbler who saw my stein were a little saddened. I felt bad. One guy held his tumbler up to my big 24 oz glass and took a picture. The food smelled amazing and was typical faire-fare price; about $6 for BBQ or a turkey leg. Lots of German meats. The aroma was great. Overall, fun and silly. There were people in costume and all crowding aside people were generally having a good time. Oh: To the guy selling $12 candied apples: try offering samples of that particular item. Otherwise they seem far too expensive. I understand that you're a gourmet candy shop but for customers who don't seek your business out for it's gourmet reputation the price was daunting and samples would have helped. Not for general consumption; but for anyone who asked about the apples. You wouldn't even need to advertise that you were sampling; just offer if it looks like you're going to lose the sale otherwise. It might turn them around. These festivals are all about advertising, getting the name out there, right? read more

This is the worst Oktoberfest hands down. Beer is good, everything else sucks and Eat Drink Relax is a shitty event organizer.

Was an ok beerfest for the $25 they charge. Should perhaps have bigger cups or give out more tokens. Its a bit ridiculous to expect people to buy more tokens when they are already paying 25 to get in. We went to the timonium event on Oct 8th I did like that there was a ton of food to choose from here and alot of merchants selling hot sauce. Having a band there was also kinda cool to check out. Brewers Art was the best brewer there, they had an amazing abbey ale. read more

Groupon Sunday deal: -unlimited free beer from dozens and dozens of world class breweries -wide range of free liquor, especially including specialty schnapps and other high proof stuff -delish german food ($-$$) -awesome oompah/Polka music -tons of give a ways Purchase the groupon next year and get one of the best deals of all time read more

Couldn't agree more with the other poster, who likened this year's DC Armory venue to a dreary high school gym. Really put a damper on an event that was so fantastic last year at National Harbor. Last year was outside in a bright, sunny, festive lot on the Harbor with a nice little section reserved for VIP. It was awesome. Gourmet food tastings, awesome beers, good air flow, etc... Having been to the real fest in Munich, last year's event was a nice little homage to the real deal. This year, I don't know if they were pissed off at the Germans (maybe 'cause they won the World Cup or something), but this year's event shoulda been called Not-toberfest or whatever else would warn an unsuspecting crowd that they're about to be in for a major disappointment. It was dark and dreary inside, yet hot and stuffy. I would've thought that avoiding the high temp. outside would have been one of the few bonuses of the inside venue. Wrong! For whatever reason, they did not have AC and it was stuffy! They also did nothing to make the atmosphere feel like a real Oktoberfest beer tent. I assume that was what they were going for bringing it inside a huge tent-like structure. Maybe they thought we'd be drunk enough not to notice. They were wrong about that too. Whatever the thought process, a dark glorified high school gym does not an Oktoberfest beer tent make. Regarding the stuffiness, standing in the very long bathroom lines, another disappointment for this year, many a patron found themselves sweating in their dirndls and lederhosen- garments that are not too airy to begin with. Also gone was the free food, reserved section for VIP, a stage where you could actually see what was going on and more. I'll save you the details, as I've probably written enough at this point, but let's just say "epic fail" is just about right for this. Two stars is for the fact that I got to wear my dirndl and was happy to see many more people this year took advantage of that ability- lots of people in traditional dress this year. And, to a certain extent, getting my drink on to some tasty hard cider made up for some things. There is some truth to their apparent hope that a bunch of drunk people wouldn't notice things. They just vested too much in that hope. To be fair, I have to acknowledge the high point. Aside from a nice traditionally dressed crowd, really good traditional food. My bratwurst, cabbage and potato salad were delish. Hope they get it together for next year, so I can dig out my dirndl again! read more

This event was really fun! Just like beer bourbon and bbq in early summer, this is a bit of a shitshow. I got VIP tickets which were awesome cuz you get unlimited beer and special access to a VIP tent and an extra 2 hours to party. So much beer, and like Nicole said, the potato pancakes were awesome. Next year they need MORE BATHROOMS. i think in total there were like 15 portopotties. ridiculous. Overall i had a great time, from what i remember. ;) oh and if anyone saw a black wallet on the NH1 bus back to branch ave its just a reminder of the fun i had... lucky you. I'm getting too old for this.... haha read more

My BF and I went to the 2011 event at National Harbor. It was TOTALLY worth it. We love Oktoberfest and Pumpkin brews and it was amazing to try so many. We did the regular admission. I dressed up so I got extra tokens. It was plenty for us, especially for our first year checking it out. National Harbor was a great location- we took metro and then the Old Town Alexandria Waterfront Taxi. It worked really well not to have to drive. It wasn't too crowded, we got to try everything we wanted. read more

Das best oktoberfest was at the national harbor haha! The use of space was appropriate and worked for such an activity. Parking at the garage cost $11. It was a huge event and it cost $30 or more if you bought the VIP pass - you get a cheap plastic mug and 6 tokens with it. The event was fairly organized even though there was a long line it went very quickly. You could have either bought tickets prior and pick up at willcall or buy them there so we go there earlier to make sure there was ticket. Unfortunately it was a drizzling day and it got progressively worse over time. Still there must have be thousands of people. Under some tents are vendors from different breweries - I tried dogfish, oliver's, stone and an Amish one. Each token only gave you 1/3 of a mug of beer so you can do the 'tasting' or pay 3 token for a mug. The beer weren't light beer so you get a buzz fairly quickly. There were many people dressed in Lederhosen and german dirndl dresses looking perfect for the event and they get extra tokens for dressing up. After some drinking, we walked out of the event to use the bathrooms at the national harbor using the potty johns just was not an option!! There were performances on the main stage and smaller tents with traditional geman music. There were tents for food. I tried the sauerbraten platter it was awful the beef looked like crap after sitting there for awhile, the cabbage was in huge pieces I figured they were simply too lazy to cut it up, the bratwurst was good in a soft bun but they were out of sauerkraut. The best thing there was the german pancake tent - you get two flat pancakes for $5 and you can have sour cream or applesauce with it. So yummy! People got sooo drunk they started chanting and yelling for no reason you hear waves of roars every few minutes and of course the ones that felt the need to beat somebody up! Hmm that sounded like someone I dated before HAHA! I was soooo tired from standing around for so many hours however it was a really good event despite the rain. read more

This year it was held at DC Armory in a location reminiscent of a high school gym. It cost $40, but it didn't include food. It was still a fun time and most people left the auditorium inebriated. Nonetheless, the location was poorly chosen and the lack of free food was irritating. Some of the beers also ran out an hour before the end, which was disappointing. read more

We were hesitant to go because of yelp warnings that they have run out of beer early in the past couple years. This was not the case. We celebrated from open to close and never had a dry cup (or boot). Great staff Great variety of beer, wine, and liquor to choose from. Reasonably priced. Loses a star for the lack of restrooms. Recommend hopping in the bathroom line once you feel it coming. Proost! read more

Oktoberfest was held at DC Armory this year. Sucked. Ok location - easy metro access, but dismal, depressing venue. Like a scanty beer tasting in an old HS gym. VIP's got 2 xtra hrs to drink. No free food as in past years. We brought in water and pretzels and were made to throw them out. Later I saw people walking in the door with pretzels and carrying water bottles. No info on website as to what could or could not be brought in. I don't think there was any improvement on bathrooms either, an issue in the past. Maybe I've been spoiled from past trigger agency o'fests, gone VIP since they started, but this could have been done waaay better. read more

I heard people complaining on other boards, but people...when you go to an outdoor festival where they boast 5,000 attendees and say "last year we ran out of beer" please do a little planning ahead. Sure the lines were "long" but they were quick! And we were very happy with our combined beer 21 beer tokens, after buying tix beforehand (for an extra 6 tokens) and wearing a costume (for an extra 3 tokens, which eventually parlayed into an extra....10?? They started raining from the sky like manna from the heavens and I lost count). One lil' map, easily picked up from the beer mug station, and we knew where we could find all the beer and food we needed. All in all, we had a great time. Sure the set up was a little wonky...lots of space under tents taken up by the vendor table set up. (a huge rectangle w/20 people on the inside while 100s of people crushed around the perimeter to stay dry) Maybe fix that next year? But it was fun, and low key, and generally jovial in an otherwise dreary DC. read more

DO NOT waste your money on this event. If you're thinking of going to Das Best Octoberfest to get all sorts of cheap beer, then you will be sorely mistaken. I went to this last year and it was a complete waste of money. The supposed 6 beer tokens you get does NOT equal 6 free beers. You have to give them 3 tokens to get one full pint of beer. It's a total frickin rip off. Stay home and drink at your local dive bar - it'll definitely be cheaper and more fun. read more

We attended this event on Saturday, 9/28/2013. We thought it was a well run event with quick moving lines for tastings. The german food tent was delicious. The live bands were great. We will definitely try to come next year. read more