Oktoberfest season in the East Bay runs from mid-September through late October — 6 weekends, 15+ festivals, and exactly one that shuts down an entire Oakland business district for 2 days.

Below is every Oktoberfest happening in Oakland and the East Bay in 2026, plus the Bay Area ones worth a drive. Dates, prices, whether it's free, and whether you can bring the kids.

Curated, not scraped. If a listing is here, it's confirmed with the organizer's own page.

Oct. 3-4 | Dimond District, Fruitvale Ave. & MacArthur Blvd., Oakland | Free admission

If you go to one Oktoberfest in the Town this year, make it this one. Saturday 11am-7pm, Sunday 10am-5pm. The Dimond shuts down and fills up with 50+ breweries pouring 300+ craft beers, ciders, kombuchas, wines, and spirits — plus a proper Biergarten, a homebrew competition, live music, and a kids area that means you're not paying a sitter.

Admission is FREE. You only pay if you're drinking, and the packages are where it gets interesting: a Full Pour package runs $32.82, or $29.64 each if you buy 4 at pre-sale. Unlimited 6oz tasting is $75.22 Saturday, $64.62 Sunday, $112.32 for both days. Bavarian Hall reserved seating with German platters is a separate thing and it does sell out.

Buy the drink package early. The pre-sale discount is real and the day-of line is not fun.

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Sept. 12 | Original Pattern Brewing, 292 4th St., Jack London | Ticketed

Original Pattern has been doing this for 9 years and it's the least costume-y Oktoberfest on this list — a Jack London brewery block party that happens to have festbier. Doors at 12pm. They brew a real Festbier for it (5.9%, biscuit-and-honey, genuinely good).

Ticket price wasn't posted at publish time, so grab it off the listing before it moves.

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Sept. 13, 12-6pm | 3115 Butters Dr., Oakland Hills | $20 guests, $10 members

This is the one nobody outside the Oakland Hills knows about, and it's the most authentic thing on the list. Nature Friends has been up on Butters Drive for decades running a German-Austrian-Swiss clubhouse in the middle of the woods.

Live alpine and folk music from the Gruber Family Band, Schuhplattler dancers in full traditional kit, and a food spread that is not messing around: spätzle, bratwurst, pork roast, potato salad, sauerkraut, German desserts. German beer and wine at the bar.

Pay at the door or grab tickets ahead. Food and drink run about $1 a ticket once you're in. Bring a jacket — it's up in the trees and it gets cold.

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Sept. 12, 12-10pm | 1822 Grant St., Concord | $25 presale

Best value on this list, honestly. $25 gets you a Side Gate stein, your first pour in it, AND a can of their Oktoberfence to take home. 4 German-style lagers brewed for the event, La Kura food truck, live music, stein-holding contest, face painting for the kids.

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Sept. 25-26 | Civic Park East, 1375 Civic Dr., Walnut Creek | Free admission

Friday 5-9pm, Saturday 12-9pm. German beers, brats, live traditional music, artisan vendors, and a kids' activity area. Free to walk in, pay as you go. Easy BART trip if you don't want to drive.

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Oct. 3-4 | Main St., downtown Clayton | Free admission

Saturday 11am-8pm, Sunday 11am-6pm. Clayton calls itself "Northern California's most authentic Oktoberfest" and they've got the receipts: an actual biergarten, a full-size carnival with rides, and live music all weekend under Mt. Diablo. Free parking at Clayton Community Library and Diablo View Middle School with a shuttle.

One thing: drink tickets are sold only at the event. The organizers are explicit about this — anyone selling Clayton Oktoberfest tickets online is running a scam.

Same weekend as Oaktoberfest, so you're picking one. Clayton if you want the carnival, the Dimond if you want the beer list.

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Oct. 11, 12-5pm | 628 2nd Ave., Crockett | Free, all ages

5th annual, and the sleeper pick of the season. Keg tapping ceremony, Bavarian dancers, accordion from Andre Thierry, axe throwing, a stein-holding contest, and a classic car show — all in a sugar town under the Carquinez Bridge. Street parking plus overflow at Carquinez Middle School.

Lederhosen and dirndls encouraged. Half the crowd shows up in them.

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Oct. 16, 5-10pm | SideTrack Bar + Grill, Pleasanton | Free entry

6th annual. Polkageist West plays 6-9pm, Hofbräu München and Paulaner Märzen on tap, cornhole and Jenga, German bakery items from Primrose. Entry is free — or $40 gets you reserved seating, a pretzel, and a commemorative stein with your first beer, and $65 upgrades that to a German plate dinner. Outdoor seating goes 21+ at 7pm, so bring ID.

Reserve Seating →

Oct. 24, 4-9pm | Piedmont Community Center, 711 Highland Ave. | $65+

The fanciest one, and the latest on the calendar. It's a fundraiser for the Piedmont Boosters Club — every entry dollar goes to Piedmont athletics — and it's run like a real party: wine tasting under the redwoods, a biergarten pouring local breweries, Bavarian food.

General admission ("Herr and Frau") is $65 early bird and jumps to $75 after Sept. 24, and gets you 5 beer or wine tastings, a gourmet sausage, a premium pretzel, and dessert. The $200 "Exklusiver Gast" package is unlimited beer and wine, all-you-can-eat, a commemorative mug, and concierge service from Piedmont athletes. It's capped at 125 people and it goes.

Buy before Sept. 24 or pay the markup.

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Sept. 12-Nov. 1, Saturdays & Sundays | 1001 Fairgrounds Dr., Vallejo | Included with park admission

7 weekends of German food, beer, and oompah between roller coasters. It's a theme park doing Oktoberfest, so calibrate expectations — but if you've already got passes, it's free entertainment and the kids get rides out of it.

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Sept. 18, 2-10pm | Front St., Financial District, SF | Free w/ RSVP

SF's official Oktoberfest block party, thrown by Schroeder's — the city's 100-year-old German restaurant — with Harrington's and Royal Exchange. 70+ beers on tap across 3 bars, Bavarian music, beer hall games. All ages, 21+ to drink. It's a Friday afternoon in FiDi, so plan accordingly.

RSVP →

Sept. 18-27 (closed Mon. 9/21) | Courthouse Square, Redwood City | $10-$37

The most committed Oktoberfest in the Bay — 10 days, 2,000+ feet of communal bench seating, a rotating cast of German bands, and stein-holding, yodeling, and dance contests. Tickets are $10-$27 for non-drinkers, $16-$37 for 21+, VIP tables seating 6 at $250. Every ticket includes a commemorative stein and a drink voucher.

Weekend "Festival Seatings" are the full experience; Tuesday-Thursday "Happy Hour Seatings" are music-only and easier to get. Kids are welcome but there's no kids' area.

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Sept. 27, 11am-4pm | GGP Bandshell, 75 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., SF | FREE

Not technically an Oktoberfest, but it's German, it's outdoors, and it's free. Live music and performances at the Bandshell, sausages and pretzels, beer from Standard Deviant, wine from Beringer and Gundlach-Bundschu, cultural exhibits, family activities.

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Oct. 10-11, 11am-7pm | Castro St., downtown Mountain View | Ticketed

11th annual, and it got bigger this year — a 200-foot tent of German and Austrian beers plus wine, authentic German food, traditional music, and contests for stein-holding, pretzel-eating, and best costume. Family-friendly.

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Oct. 17-18 | E. Campbell Ave. & N. 1st St., downtown Campbell | Free admission

31st annual and the biggest free one in the South Bay. Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 10am-5pm. German beer, German food, the Zicke Zacke band, 4 stages, 100+ arts and crafts vendors, and a kids zone. Service animals only — leave the dog home.

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Trumer Brewery's Berkeley Oktoberfest was a fixture on 4th Street for years — free with RSVP, real Austrian pils, all ages, no dogs.

It's gone. Trumer's U.S. operation was sold to Firestone Walker, and the Berkeley brewery and taproom closed permanently on May 29, 2026 after 22 years. 27 people lost jobs. The brand lives on; the 4th Street building doesn't.

Pour one out. Then go to the Dimond.

Best overall: Oaktoberfest in the Dimond (Oct. 3-4). Free entry, 50+ breweries, and it's in the Town.

Best free one: Walnut Creek (Sept. 25-26) or Clayton (Oct. 3-4). Both free to walk into, both easy with a group.

Best with kids: Clayton, for the carnival rides. Oaktoberfest and Campbell both have real kids areas too.

Best value: Side Gate in Concord. $25 for a stein, a pour, and a can to take home is not a normal price.

Best if you want the authentic thing: Oakland Nature Friends. Schuhplattler dancers, spätzle, a clubhouse in the woods.

Best date night: Piedmont Oktoberfest. Wine under the redwoods, and the money goes to high school sports.

Best last call: Bay Area's Oktoberfest in Crockett (Oct. 11). Free, weird, and the accordion is genuinely great.

Bay Area Oktoberfest season runs Sept. 12 through Oct. 24, 2026. The busiest weekends are Sept. 25-27 and Oct. 3-4. The real Munich Oktoberfest runs mid-September to the first weekend of October, which is why most local festivals cluster there.

Oaktoberfest in the Dimond, in Oakland. Oct. 3-4, 2026, with 50+ breweries pouring 300+ beers, ciders, kombuchas, wines, and spirits across a shut-down business district. Free admission.

Oaktoberfest in the Dimond, Walnut Creek Oktoberfest, CBCA Clayton Oktoberfest, Bay Area's Oktoberfest in Crockett, and SideTrack in Pleasanton are all free to enter. You pay for food and drinks once you're in.

Most are. Oaktoberfest, Clayton, Walnut Creek, Crockett, Six Flags, and Campbell all welcome all ages, and Clayton has a full carnival. Piedmont Oktoberfest is the one built for adults.

For Piedmont, yes — early bird pricing ends Sept. 24 and the premium package caps at 125 people. For Oaktoberfest, the pre-sale drink package discount is worth it. Clayton is the opposite: drink tickets are sold only at the event, never online.

Whatever you want. Lederhosen and dirndls are common at Crockett, Clayton, and Redwood City, and nobody will look at you sideways in jeans. Layers either way — East Bay evenings in October turn cold fast.

More of the Town, curated weekly:

Know an Oktoberfest we missed? Send it over and we'll add it.