The first-ever Clarendon Hills Oktoberfest Saturday evening was a big success, according to two of the people involved in organizing the event, which was held in two locations along Prospect Avenue.
Live music was presented both north of the railroad tracks at Burlington Avenue and the newly-opened Tierra Distilling Company, 211 Burlington Ave., and south of the tracks near the Sloan Triangle and the Open Door Tap Room & Bottle Shop, 20 S. Prospect Ave.
“It was just great, a lot of people came out,” said Derek Berg, president of the Clarendon Hills Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the event. “We usually have blocked off Prospect for our big events, but we didn’t do that this time, with things going on in two different locations, both north and south of the tracks.” Berg estimated the crowd at about 400 people.
“It had a totally different vibe without Prospect being completely shut off, and it worked out well; it was a good testing out of public spaces in a different way.
“We want to do more events like this, without Prospect completely closed off, because it doesn’t benefit all of our businesses to have the street closed off. The more we can do events without a total shutdown, it’s a win-win. We still will do some of the major events, like Dancin’ in the Street and Daisy Days, with Prospect closed.”
Berg said he believes Oktoberfest will continue in Clarendon Hills and become an annual happening.
Frank Spreitzer and Dillon Walentin, co-owners of The Open Door Tap Room & Bottle Shop, came up with the idea to start Oktoberfest in Clarendon Hills, and Spreitzer agrees that it can be a great annual event for the village.
“The response from everyone was overwhelmingly positive,” Spreitzer said. “People were very pleased, and it was a great way to bring the community together, which is really what something like this is all about.”
Spreitzer said he would like to see the event become bigger in the future.
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“We want to work with the Chamber and others to make it bigger and better,” he said. “For the first go, it was really great. And we can take it from there.”
Along with the live music, Oktoberfest featured food vendors and specialty Oktoberfest beers.
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.