The Fremont Oktoberfest was a big success last weekend. How do I know? Cause the numbers don’t lie…

Here are a few fun facts from the weekend…

• 20,000 people gathered in the Tasting Garden to taste over 100 beers.
• 5,000 guests of all ages entered the Oktoberfest Village where over 500 Zucchini Cars were raced in the Kids Area
• 42 dogs entered CityDog Magazine’s Cover Dog Model Contest during Sunday’s Fremont Dogtoberfest.
• 1,000 runners raced in the Fremont Oktoberfest 5K and finished in the Pyramid Breweries Village Beer Garden
• Our 1,000 amazing volunteers poured 157,561 beers in the Tasting Garden, meaning… they collected 157,561 tokens and tapped over 550 kegs of beer

Break out the lederhosen, Fremont Oktoberfest is finally here.

September 23rd - 25th, the Fremont fall tradition returns with plenty of beer, brats and entertainment to keep you busy all weekend long.

Here’s what you can expect all weekend long…

Tasting Garden - Tasting Garden admission include a 5oz tasting mug and tasting tokens to sample over 80 microbrews and german beers.

Buxom Beer Garden - Once you are done with your tasting and ready to sit down with a “Buxom” beer, the Tap House Grill Buxom Beer Garden is the place for you.

Musical Entertainment - Check out the line-up of musical acts that will be performing all weekend.

5K and Street Scramble - It’s a race to the beer garden in the 9th annual Fremont Oktoberfest 5K. Or if you’d rather take an “amazing race” around Fremont, the Scramble is for you.

There’s also plenty of fun going on in the Oktoberfest village or in one of the many lounges set up throughout. There’s even lots of activities for your pooch on Sunday, or “Dogtoberfest,” as you just knew they would call it.

For more info on the events, tickets and anything else, visit the official website.

Some news and items of interest for Fremonsters…

• Fremont OktoberFest has officially been set for September 23-25, 2011.
• The Fremont Bridge is among this list of architecturally-significance Seattle buildings that continue to serve the city well.
• New West Seattle bar Locöl will feature Fremont Pale Ale on tap.
• Want to have a say about the proposed “apple” apartment building at 3606 Woodland Park Ave.? Attend this meeting tonight to be heard.
• If someone comes to your front door asking for money to pay a locksmith, it’s a scam. Check out how he’s tricked folks in Greenlake and Maple Leaf.
• Anyone want to own up to knowing which Fremont pub received the “tsunami of poo” described in this anonymous Stranger apology (Warning: it’s about what you think it’s about).

On the second day of Fremont Oktoberfest — an amazing, cloudless sky, sunny day that was as good or better than any days we’ve had this short, sporadic summer — I finally got to see something I’d only heard of from friends and “Grey’s Anatomy”: the Texas Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving Contest.

Only, I had no idea it’d be such a theatrical event, with contestants dressed as a penguin, a bunny and an Air Force pilot (without the helmet).

Five contestants buzzed away at helpless pumpkins for the glory of being crowned champion. In the photo above, from left to right: Michelle the Mom, The Bunny from Green Lake, Ian (the guy in the orange flight suit), the Penguin and Betty the (Family) Butcher, a three-time champ.

Because the competition took place in the Petco Oktoberfest Village outside of the main gates, in the parking lot next to the Foundry, anyone could stop by and check it out. It took about an hour for them to each take a pumpkin, put it on a table in front of the big stage, work the chainsaw (a cordless kind that is a lot smaller than what I thought it’d be) and spew pumpkin guts and seeds 10, 15 feet away. In the war of Penguin vs. Pumpkin, the big guy was clearly the winner.

Most made quick work of the hapless fall fruit, with different variations on making funny faces, although Michelle’s pumpkin fell off mid-cutting. Using the Applause-o-Meter, it came down to a “chainsaw-off” between the Bunny and Betty the Butcher.

In the end, Betty prevailed, with an artistic rendering that didn’t go deep into the pumpkin, instead emphasizing a more delicate touch.

Otherwise, once inside the main gates, it was crowded, with thousands turning out for such a beautiful. So this day, lines were common, unlike Friday night. Especially for 21st Amendment’s Hell or High Watermelon Wheat and Baron Brewing/Three Skulls Ales’ Three Skulls Hop the Plank IPA. Those were worth the wait! The key was to make sure a drink was already in hand in the wait for those crowd-pleasers.

And for me, after all these years, Fremont Oktoberfest was worth the wait, too.

Last night was my first Fremont Oktoberfest. I’ve been here for years, but I was always out of town or had other plans. I’m also not that much of a beer drinker. But when in Seattle, you must adapt.

Fremont Oktoberfest makes it easy, though, especially when amusing events punctuate the beer tastings. For instance, the popular boobs and booze combo on tap at the Miss Buxom contest, which I found out, is not just open to women. Two men entered, on a whim, and they weren’t in drag. They were, however, in lederhosen. And guess what, one of them won the contest!

(L-R) Second-place “Schnooki”, winner Bill Henninger (aka “Inglebert”) and third-place “Ivana Von Humpalot”

Bill Henninger and his wife Audry entered the contest at the prompting of contest emcee Red from The End/107.7 FM, who saw their costumes — the Des Moines couple always get dressed up for Oktoberfest — and urged them to get in on the action.

Audry & Bill Henninger

Henninger entered under the alias “Inglebert” and when Red asked him what his favorite sausage was, he replied, “The footlong.” His wife entered under the alias, “Gertrude.” Frequent visitors to regional Oktoberfests, this was their first time at Fremont Oktoberfest. They bought the costumes they were wearing last night for a visit to Munich Oktoberfest in 2008.

Henninger had some stiff competition from his wife, six other women and the other guy wearing lederhosen. But with the Applause-o-Meter going through the roof, Henninger made out with $100 in cash, a $100 giftcard to the Tap House & Grill, and a Fremont Oktoberfest prize pack that included a sweatshirt, tasting tokens and a souvenir 1-liter stein.

While his sisters have been Homecoming and Prom Queens, the former high school football player said this was his first time in such a spotlight. When asked how it felt to be the first-ever Mister Buxom, he replied, “I feel sexy.”

The contest was an entertaining diversion, as was the band that played covers of Pat Benatar, Michael Jackson, and in a most daring move, the Beastie Boys (”No Sleep Till Brooklyn”). But let’s not kid ourselves, the main reason people were here was to drink copious amounts of the hoppy good stuff. Some stayed with the 5-ounce plastic tasting mugs, which came with admission and five tasting tokens, and some forked over $10 for the souvenir 1-liter steins. But with more than 80 microbrews and 11 German beers to choose from, there was plenty to sample all night.

The Deschutes Brewery from Oregon and it’s eye-catching mobile serving station

“Beer me!” was a common phrase, and streams of cigar smoke wafted everywhere, making for a sweet, stinky need to stop breathing for a minute kind of sensation. And that awful blue, blinding light next to the Deschutes mobile wooden keg: please turn that off or down, because it kills the ambience!

But staying focused and on task, beer connoisseurs could wander from tent to tent, with barely any lines, sampling lagers, porters, IPA, brown pale ales, Oktoberfests, etc. to their heart’s delight. The layout of the festival, with wide streets on both 35th and 34th next to the Canal allowed for lots of movement and plenty of space to decompress, even with the increasing crowds.

Lounges were also randomly sprinkled everywhere, so if you needed to kick back, you could.

Some tasty finds so far: Lagunitas’ Little Stumpin Wild, Georgetown Brewing Co.’s Lucille IPA, Kona’s Longboard Lager (and you get lei’d too!) and Flyers’ Proptoberfest.

We hope you’ll have a good time today, too, and tomorrow. Today, we’re checking out the Texas Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving Contest! Pictures later!

Looks like clouds are clearing just in time for our three-day ode to fall: Fremont Oktoberfest, which begins at 5 p.m. and continues through Sunday.

Phinney Ave. N. and N. 35th St. will be the place to go to sample 80 microbrews and 11 German beers, the most the event has ever had on tap.

A $20 ticket will get you inside, a souvenir tasting mug, and five tasting tokens. Advance ticket holders also get to cut in line ahead of people purchasing at the gate where prices will be $5 more. You can’t buy advance tickets online anymore, but you can go to one of these ticket sellers and save some dough.

But Oktoberfest isn’t just for beer drinkers.

The Petco Oktoberfest Village contains an area for pets to stand by their owners in a beer garden, or become a supermodel in the CityDog Magazine Cover Model Contest. Owners will also run in Sunday’s Brew HA-HA 5K.

This is also the location of the kids area, where they can play with arts and crafts, race and decorate zucchini, do their own tasting of (root) beer floats and soda, and pumpkin bowl and carve — but not with a chainsaw.

That is left to the pros.

Of course, one of the main attractions is the Texas Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving Contest, Saturday and Sunday at 1! We can’t wait to see what happens.

Finally, the Miss Buxom contest is tonight. And yes, we’ll take pictures.

All contestants must be dressed up in funky, fun German attire and register at The Tap House Grill Buxom Beer Garden between 5pm and 6:30pm on Friday, September 24, 2010. Each contestant must answer a question and the audience will be the judge to decide who is this year’s Miss Buxom.

The crowned winner of Miss Buxom will receive $100 in cash plus a Fremont Oktoberfest prize pack with a sweatshirt, tasting tokens and more! Two runners up will each receive $50 in cash.

While it may not be a “Das Boot!” a la “Beerfest,” the Fremont Oktoberfest commemorative 1-liter beer stein is no small accomplishment to chug down.

And it’ll be necessary to sample the influx of the Deutschland’s alcoholic pride.

“This year’s event features the most German beers we’ve ever had on tap at Fremont Oktoberfest in its fourteen years,” says Phil Megenhardt, creative director.

That would be 11 brews separated into two tents, West German and East German.

The West German Beer Tent will pour six beers including Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen and Weinhenstephan Hefe-Weissbier. The East German Beer Tent features five German brews on tap including Hofbräu Dunkel and Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier.

Festival drinkers can purchase the mammoth beer stein at the Tap House Grill Buxom Beer Garden, with their choice of Ayinger Oktober Fest-Marzen, Radeberger Pilsner, Weihenstephan Hefe-Weissbier and Veltins Pilsener, brought to you by World Class Beverage.

Fans of microbrews won’t be disappointed. They’ll have more than 80 micros to sample at the event, which runs from September 24-26. It benefits the Fremont Chamber of Commerce. Advance tickets are now on sale for The Stranger Microbrew Garden for $20 (general admission). Buy them now to get the cheaper rate.

If you like to imbibe a cold one, Seattle is your town. Our neighborhood, in particular, with the Fremont Oktoberfest and daily beer epicenters such as Brouwer’s Cafe, Dad Watson and the George & Dragon Pub, is just like heaven for those who appreciate a well-poured pint. it’s no wonder Seattle Beer Week would kick off here Thursday at 5 p.m., at Hale’s Brewery (4301 Leary Way). Those who go can witness the tapping of the inaugural cask!

Some might say *every* week is Beer Week, but there is actually an event called Seattle Beer Week, and this year it is from May 13 - 23 (so it’s actually a little more than a week).

Hale’s is one of the sponsors, as is Brouwer’s, but other locals get in on the action too. It’s a good excuse to try the brew Hale’s made specifically for Seattle Beer Week and celebrate Seattle’s thriving beer culture - with a hearty, handmade Shultzy’s Sausage, of course.

The festivities take place all over the city, but they end up back where they began, at Hale’s. On May 23, from noon to 5 p.m., beer connoisseurs can taste brews from 22 different Washington breweries, including Naked City, Scuttlebutt, Chuckanut and Fremont Brewing.

After three days of celebration, Fremont Oktoberfest came to a close today, officially kicking off the fall season. 

The annual Texas Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving competition continued a long-standing Oktoberfest tradition on both Saturday and Sunday. (Thanks to Jody for the picture!)

After starting the day with the Brew Ha-Ha 5K Run/Walk and Street Scramble, the event also turned into “dog-toberfest” with Dog Day Afternoon activities taking place throughout the rest of the day.

In honor of The Simpson’s 20th Anniversary, CityDogMagazine held a Santa’s Little Helper Dog look-a-like contest in conjunction with its Cover Dog Model Search.  Proceeds from entry fees benefit Reading With Rover, a non-profit that helps children develop literacy skills.

One-year-old pug shih-tzu Toby got dressed to impress the judges.

His one-year-old sister, Bella, however, didn’t look quite as pleased to get dolled up.

Simba, a blind rescue dog from Turkey, had no problem striking a pooch pose.

This little doggie was the eventual winner in the look-a-like contest.

Five-year-old Shi-Shi won the Cover Dog competition, moving him onto a final round.  Winners from select events will be chosen by CityDog Magazine readers to grace the cover of the magazine’s Winter 2009-2010 issue.  The last qualifying event takes place at U Village’s FidoFEST on September 27.

Despite more than 80 brews on tap, by mid-afternoon many of them had already run out.

Until next year’s Fremont Oktoberfest, auf Wiedersehen!

Fremont’s three-day event kicked off the fall season tonight.  It was an evening of beer, beer, beer, and a few buxom beauties.

More than 80 beers were on tap for beer lovers to sample.

Legunitas Brewing Co., out of Petaluma, got our vote for best brew name - “The Hairy Eyeball”.

Food Network’s Guy Fieri (or someone who looks just like him) was in town shooting for “Guy’s Big Bite“.  His Oktoberfest show airs on October 14.

What’s a party without a game of quarters?

Contestants line up to compete for the title of Miss Buxom 2009.

Meet Miss Buxom 2009, Tiffany Moore, aka Heidi Ho.

 It was a tough call, but Emily, aka Gretel, walked away Miss Runner-Up.

Fremont Oktoberfest goes through Sunday.  Watch master carving artists put their chainsaws to work as they vie for the title in the Texas Chainsaw Pumpkin Carving Contest starting tomorrow at 1pm.  Sunday is for the dogs, with cover model and look-a-like contests. 

Here’s our preview of the event, and for the entire weekend’s schedule and ticket information, click here.