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Barracks Row
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Oktoberfest on Capitol Hill, our classic fall celebration, has evolved slowly, each year building on the success of the year before. And after six years, local Oktoberfest traditions have crystallized. Oktoberfest 2009 will open Sept. 26, at 11 a.m., with a cast of favorites from previous years: a large petting zoo for the kids; a car corral for guys, starring Jaguars and Austin Healeys; the Redskins Cheerleaders in all their NFL glamour; the United States Marines Silent Drill Platoon performing their famous precision rifle routine; and military chefs competing all day long for the Top Chef award in the Iron Chef Cook Off.
There will be booths of every description lining the street, and fairgoers can visit outdoor patios at Eighth Street restaurants and watch the street scene unfold over a cool Oktoberfest brew.
Oktoberfest grows every year because of another Hill tradition: local support. Oktoberfest 2008 brought out 7,000 mostly local fans. The crowd was made up of friends and neighbors who use Eighth Street SE every day exactly as Pierre L’Enfant intended – as the main commercial corridor for the village he planned around the Capitol. Business owners feel the love. “We have big plans for Oktoberfest specials- we know our customers will be there!” notes Steven Cheung at Fusion Grill. “Our customers are definitely from the local area, it’s a very tight-knit community. Our family has worked in the restaurant industry for years, and this intense local support is unique to Capitol Hill!”
New Events and Artists
Nancy Metzger, a homeowner from nearby G Street, agrees wholeheartedly. “We shop the Eighth Street area every day,” said Metzger as she was leaving Valarie’s Animal Den (737 Eighth St. SE) with Rosie, her Pomeranian-spaniel mix. “We’ll be there on the 26th. We are even thinking about having Rosie’s picture taken at Chateau[-Animaux] during Oktoberfest.” Metzger was referring to a new attraction at this year’s Oktoberfest. Chateau-Animaux owner Dennis Bourgeult has arranged to have a professional pet portrait studio set up in the Shakespeare Theatre parking lot next door to Chateau. The studio, a converted 40-foot trailer, will be staffed with professional pet photographers all day. (Call 202-544-8710 for details.)
Meanwhile a record number of artists will join Oktoberfest with booths, including home portraitist Joe Snyder. “Eighth Street is a phenomenon; it reverses the flow of customers to Northwest,” observes Snyder. “Oktoberfest is an extraordinary opportunity for me to be a part of the most up-and-coming family entertainment district in the city!”
Returning after a successful Oktoberfest in 2008, Tim Devenney, a glass artisan, says, “Oktoberfest was a great experience for me last year. It’s the perfect time to buy stocking stuffers. I am ready with my new collection of handmade pieces of ‘working art’ like bottle stoppers and tea lights.”
A Fall Homecoming
With the arrival of fans for the Nationals games just a 12-minute walk to the south, more and more visitors from outside of Capitol Hill are discovering Barracks Row, too. “We are reaching out to the DC metro area in our Oktoberfest promotions,” says James Dalpee, executive director of Barracks Row. “There are so many new people who have found us because of the Nats games, and now we are inviting them back to a fall homecoming!” The Nationals are once again sending their presidential bobbleheads to join their fans at Oktoberfest. But, like last year, the bobbleheads, being bobbleheads, are hard to pin down. Check Barracks Row Main Street’s website for the arrival time of the bobbleheads www.barracksrow.org.
More Tours of the Home of the Commandants
After Oktoberfest 2008, we realized we caught one very lucky break when the United States Marine Corps appointed General James Conway as Commandant. With the arrival of the general and his wife, Mrs. Annette, the dynamic in the neighborhood shifted dramatically. For over two centuries the Home of the Commandants sat majestically on the corner of Eighth and G streets SE. We admired from afar, but few of us had ever been inside. That all changed at Oktoberfest 2008 when Mrs. Annette opened the Home of the Commandants for four docent-led tours. Hard to top that, right? But she’s done it again! This year Mrs. Annette is having five docent-led tours of the home, and as long as Chesty stays cool, there will be a long afternoon of Chesty sightings along the midway.
MC Beth Fluto returns to keep Oktoberfest rolling from the main stage at Eighth and G streets. New acts like Batala, the all girl Brazilian drum group, join the lederhosen boys in the German Oompah band to provide the day’s music. Your favorite politicians will be there to kick off the festivities, and at the end of the day the Commandant of the Marine Corps awards the Top Chef Prize.
So on the first weekend of fall, make your way to Eighth Street SE and savor the evolution as the oldest business district in DC celebrates its ongoing transformation!
Barracks Row’s Oktoberfest Sept. 26 Schedule
11 – Oktoberfest opens; the Military Chef’s Iron Chef Cook Off is underway in tents in front of the
Marine Barracks.
Noon – First docent-led tour of the Home of the Commandants begins (five tours, on the hour)
Noon – Presentation of Colors and the National Anthem; US Marine Corps Brass Band
12:15 – Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells and guest dignitaries welcome fairgoers
12:30 – First guided tour of the Marine Barracks (four tours, on the half hour)
1-5 – National’s bobblehead presidents visit Oktoberfest – check www.barracksrow.org for updated bobblehead schedule.
1:15 – Chesty the Marine Corps bulldog begins walks of Oktoberfest starting from Chateau-Animaux
1:15 – St. Mark’s Players Showcase: Journey (vocal medley)
2:30 – Batala, the all girl drumming band
3:15 – Redskins Cheerleaders
3:45 – Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon
4:45 – Commandant of the Marine Corps announces the winners of the Military Chef Competition
5 – Oktoberfest 2009 closes.
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