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St. Benedict Oktoberfest is Festing this Weekend, Richmond Oktoberfest at Richmond Raceway Cancelled

Expect it to be a bit more crowded and tipsy around Belmont and Hanover starting on Friday.

Published

2 years ago

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The beer will flow this weekend.

The 16th Annual St. Benedict Oktoberfest will again be three days! So, get your dirndls and lederhosen ready and mark your calendars for September 17, 18 and 19th!
This annual parish-sponsored event was initiated in 2005 and has grown into a much-anticipated Richmond festival every September. The enthusiasm shown by our parish and parish school, in addition to our brother-sister Catholic secondary schools (Benedictine College Prepatory and Saint Gertrude High School), and Richmond community has fueled the success of this event. Chosen due to the strong German roots of our parish, this German-themed celebration allows attendees the opportunity to enjoy German music, dancing, food, and their beverage of choice. All proceeds from Oktoberfest are used to support Catholic education at the Catholic Schools historically associated with Saint Benedict Parish.
Check out our website for more information, including music schedule, events and more!
http://stbenedictoktoberfest.com/
Unlike the Richmond Folk Fest which has a lengthy page of precautions and restrictions, St. Benedict is making no mention on Facebook or their website of Covid-19 or precautions they will be taking.
The folks at Richmond Oktoberfest which is held indoors at the Richmond Raceway made the following statement in August. The fest was scheduled for the last weekend of September and they hope to be back next year.

To be on the safe side and protect our guests, we searched the Virginia State Health Department web site to see what restrictions are in place because of the Corona virus this year. We found many. As a result, we spent a lot of time discussing all these restrictions and what effect they would have on our Oktoberfest. We may have been able to overcome many of these hurdles, but not all of them. The main stumbling block would have been social distancing of six feet. The result would have meant no dancing by the attendees, as well as no performances by the Hirschjaeger Dancers. We would also have long lines at every stand. On top of that we would have had to recruit more helpers to enforce all these restrictions.

The result would have been a Fest experience that would not live up to the high expectations that our devoted visitors are accustomed to and that we are used to delivering to our guests.

After considering all these things we decided that we had no choice but to cancel this year’s Oktoberfest.  A decision that was not easy for us.

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Richard Hayes is the co-founder of RVAHub. When he isn't rounding up neighborhood news, he's likely watching soccer or chasing down the latest and greatest board game.

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