Oktoberfest Brisbane for Kids!

Oktoberfest Brisbane is back for its eleventh year, and it’s not just for the grown ups!

Our young family of six visited last year for a good dose of German culture. Although all the days are child-friendly, Sundays are especially fun because each child who visits gets two free rides. There was also a pretty cool family vibe with lots of parents with prams and little tackers running around.

The hub of the kids’ activities is the Kinder Zone, with stage shows (my daughter loved the Little Miss Oktoberfest competition and they all loved the live reptile show, check the program for times). Also in Kinder Zone is a craft-making tent where my four- and five- year old made some German hats and paper gingerbread love hearts, while my eight year old and husband checked out some life size Fusbal  (soccer fans at heart!). There was a circus workshop too, and a tent with play activities like water, train set and kinetic sand, which my kids really enjoyed.

The action wasn’t confined to the Kinder Zone though, we caught a cooking show and a mixed choir performance on one stage and listened to some great live music inside the Spiegeltent.

As many young families are on tight budgets for outings, it’s worth noting that children under 18 get in free with adults on all of the days (but Sundays they get the free rides!). Food is on the dearer end, for street food/market food, so expect to pay about $10 for a kransky hot dog, $15 for a burger and $5-$7 for a serve of chips. We felt the “adult” drinks were well priced, and we also had the kids water bottles with us which can be refilled at a central water station.

We had a fantastic day with no shortage of activities and things to see. Before we knew it, we’d been at Oktoberfest for five hours! We will be back next year!

The Oktoberfest website has all the info about performances and events, plus ticket sales.

Have you been to Oktoberfest? With kids or without?