A new national survey just ranked the top 20 Oktoberfests in the country, and not one single Minnesota celebration made the list. Really?!?

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You can imagine my surprise when I first read this WalletHub list of the Top 20 Best Places For Oktoberfest Celebrations and found that no Minnesota location had made the list. I mean, come on, man, right?!?

Minnesota has A LOT of great Oktoberfests. Which totally fits, seeing as our state has a rather large German heritage. (German roots in Minnesota are maybe not quite as large as they are in my home state of Wisconsin, but there's still a pretty good German presence here in the Bold North.) Just the New Ulm Oktoberfest alone should have made the list, I thought, right?

But as it turns out, there's a good reason the list turned out as it did. As with most surveys, WalletHub only looked at the 100 largest U.S. cities, and compared their celebrations on 24 indicators of 'Oktoberfest-friendliness.'

So right there, that leaves New Ulm out-- even though its Oktoberfest is pretty extensive. (That's one I've been meaning to get to ever since moving here to Minnesota.) Same thing with the legendary Oktoberfest celebration over in La Crosse, Wisconsin. That one's been running since 1950, and while somewhat smaller than it was previously, it's still a way-cool festival. (I HAVE been to that one-- even if I don't necessarily remember all of it...)

And, if you look closer at the list-- and at all 100 cities-- Minnesota's Oktoberfest celebrations in both Minneapolis and St. Paul DID make the list. (Minneapolis was ranked 23rd, while St. Paul came in at #35.)  You can check the complete list HERE. And HERE is a list of some great Oktoberfests throughout the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Prosit!

Listen to Curt St. John from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5
and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 103.9 The Doc

 

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