Oktoberfest Takes Over Abrams Park, and Yes, the Wiener Dogs Are Racing
The Ridgefield Lions Oktoberfest runs Friday and Saturday at Abrams Park. Friday night is 21 and over. Saturday belongs to everybody, including the short-legged athletes. And every dollar of profit stays right here.
There are maybe five weekends a year where the entire town ends up standing in the same field, and this is one of them. The Ridgefield Lions Oktoberfest is back at Abrams Park on Friday, September 11 and Saturday, September 12, and if you have been putting off deciding whether to go, I am going to make this easy for you. Go.
Here is the part that trips people up every year, so let's get it out of the way first. Friday and Saturday are two different events wearing the same costume. Friday runs 4 to 10 p.m. and it is strictly 21 and over. Saturday opens at noon, runs to 10 p.m., and is all ages. If you have kids, or a dachshund, or both, Saturday is your day.
The Essentials
Saturday, September 12 · noon to 10 p.m. · all ages
Friday is for grown-ups, Saturday is for everyone
Friday night has a specific energy. The sun goes down, the string lights come on, the band gets louder, and everybody you have ever stood behind at Starbucks is suddenly holding a stein and telling you their thoughts on the Lindsay Clancy trial. It is 21 and over, which means no strollers, no negotiating with a seven-year-old about when you are leaving, and a slightly rowdier crowd. This is the date-night option.
Saturday is the family version, and it is the bigger day. Gates open at noon, the kids zone is running, and the wiener dog races happen - if you have not attended one of these glorious events and if you only have one day in you, make it Saturday.
What is actually happening out there
This is not a beer tent with a speaker in the corner. The Lions run an actual program, and most of it is competitive in a way that reveals things about your neighbors.
Two bands carrying the weekend. Music is the spine of the whole thing, and it runs late enough on both nights that you will end up staying longer than you planned. This is not a complaint.
The premise: drive a nail into a stump in a single swing. That is it. That is the whole game. What actually happens is that a dozen adults form a circle and take turns being humbled by a piece of wood while everyone else offers unsolicited technique advice.
I have watched grown men who build houses for a living lose at this. It never gets old.
Deceptively brutal. Your arm starts shaking at about ninety seconds and the crowd notices immediately. If you have been doing shoulder work, this is your moment. If you have not, this is a great thing to watch someone else do.
Yes, people dress up. Yes, they take it seriously. No, you do not have to, but you will spend the evening mildly regretting it when someone rolls through in full Bavarian regalia and gets a standing ovation from the beer line.
Consider this your notice. You have a few days.
Let's be honest about the hierarchy here. The music is great, the beer is cold, but the wiener dog races are why half the crowd shows up on Saturday. Small dogs, short track, absolutely no regard for the rules of the sport. Some of them run. Some of them stop halfway and sit down. One of them will run the wrong direction and become a local legend.
If you have a dachshund, register. If you do not have a dachshund, get there early for a good spot along the track, because it fills in fast.
Kids 12 and under get in free, and Saturday has a dedicated kids zone so you are not spending the afternoon inventing entertainment in a beer garden. Bring a blanket, claim some grass, let them run.
Where the money actually goes
This is the part I want people to actually read, because it is the reason this event is different from a brewery throwing a party.
The Ridgefield Lions Club says one hundred percent of the profits from Oktoberfest go back into the community. Not most. Not a percentage donated to a partner charity. All of it, routed back into Ridgefield.
What that funds, specifically: food assistance for families who need it, vision screenings and eye exams and glasses for people who cannot afford them, hearing assistance, support for scouts and the YMCA, the police department's Shop with a Cop program, school teams and clubs, and humanitarian aid when disasters hit. The club also collects used eyeglasses and hearing aids at drop sites around town, including the Ridgefield Library, Rosauers, and B Seen Modern Eye Care.
And the scholarships. In 2026 the Ridgefield Lions awarded $19,000 in scholarships to Ridgefield High School graduates. That money came from weekends exactly like this one.
So when you buy the $27 ticket, you are not buying a $27 ticket. You are buying a couple of hours of live music and a nail-driving contest, and also a piece of somebody's textbooks. That is a good trade.
Questions people ask me every year
Saturday, yes. Gates open at noon and it is all ages, with a kids zone. Kids 12 and under are free. Friday is 21 and over only.
No. Tickets are available at the gate on the day of the event. Buying online through SimpleTix is just faster.
VIP is $43.14 versus $27.38 for general admission. Check the SimpleTix listing for exactly what the VIP tier includes this year, since it varies.
The wiener dog races are a registered event with a $11.63 entry fee per dog. For general dog policy at the festival, check with the Lions directly before you show up with a leash.
Abrams Park has a lot, and it fills. Downtown Ridgefield is a short walk and street parking opens up the further out you go. Honestly, if you live close, walk.
Local food vendors are on site both days, plus the German food you would expect from an Oktoberfest.
Go do the thing
This is a volunteer-run event thrown by a service club that spends the rest of the year running food drives, collecting eyeglasses, and quietly writing checks for people in this town who need help. They put on a two-day party in a public park and then hand the profits back to us.
The least we can do is show up in a bad hat and lose at Hammerschlagen.
More from Meanwhile in Ridgefield
If you go, find me. I will be the one loudly narrating the wiener dog races to strangers who did not ask. And if you get a good photo of a dachshund in mid-air, send it over. We will run it.
