GARDNER  — City officials dubbed the last Saturday in September “Oktoberfest.” 

The holiday was named after the Gardner Ale House’s annual “Oktoberfest ‘Party in the Street,’” which resumed on Saturday, Sept. 25, for the fifteenth time.

Mayor Michael Nicholson and City Council President Elizabeth Kazinskas made the announcement after the event kicked off at 11:00 a.m. The city also presented Rick Walton, the ale house’s owner, with a certificate celebrating the restaurant’s fifteenth birthday.

Walton responded to this recognition, saying, “We still feel like the new kids in town. That’s probably a good thing – don’t want to be figured for ‘old and in the way!’”

According to Stacey Kazinskas, the general manager of the Gardner Ale House as well as the restaurant’s Moon Hill Brewing Co., it took some prodding from the city to get Walton to put on the event this year.

“Mayor Michael Nicholson approached the owner of the ale house, Rick Walton, and he said, ‘You’ve got to do it! You’ve got to get this city back to normal, we’ve got to do things that make us feel normal and Oktoberfest is one of those things,” she said. 

The event, which closes Parker Street to traffic, was part concert, part amusement park and part street fair.  Booths selling children’s toys, clothing, Halloween ware and products from the local retail shops lined the streets. A series of bouncy houses emerged from the parking lot at the intersection of Parker and Main streets.

Nevertheless, the crux of the event was in the public parking lot across from the ale house. “Food Combi” and “Sweet & Savory” food trucks filled the periphery of the lot. There was also a concert stage where four local acts performed. Craft beer was also provided by Moon Hill Brewing Company and the Acadian Club, which served domestic Canadian brews from a “beer truck.”

“I love it. I’m glad that everyone is out and about finally,” said Jeremy Zeballos, a Gardner resident. “I miss the chair luge, they’re not having that this year.”

The chair luge, which is a big draw for the event, was postponed this year. It’s an Oktoberfest tradition where participants put wheels, brakes and steering gear onto a chair and, wearing a helmet, race each other in teams of two downhill from the Gardner Ale House to Beauregard Liquors. It’s about 200 yards.

“But even without the chair luge, we have an awesome crowd for the bands and the beer,” said Kazinskas.

Walton plans on including the chair luge in next year’s Oktoberfest.