Dozens of people gather and rest on a grassy knoll near the entrance of Schell’s. Several food trucks were parked in the area, making it the perfect spot to rest and have snack.

NEW ULM – The Oktoberfest celebration in New Ulm continues to bring new faces to the community but also encourages locals to enjoy the fun.

Saturday’s festivities began at Schell’s Brewery when the front gate opened at 10:30 a.m. At least 5,600 people attended Schell’s Oktoberfest celebration, but the numbers could have exceeded 6,000.

Schell’s General Manager, Curt Van Asten said this year 3,300 pre-sale tickets were sold for the festival. Historically, Schell’s receives another third to a half of ticket sales through same-day purchases. A card scanner at the front gate counted 5,600 people entering the brewery as of 4 p.m.

Van Asten said the number of people attending Schell’s Oktoberfest is growing and reaching Bockfest level. The Bockfest celebration has received over 6,000 guests in the last few years. To accommodate the higher numbers, Schell’s rearranged the festival ground. The DJ music was moved back into an area previously reserved for the Schell’s deer pen.

Another reason for the high volume turnout was the weather. Temperatures for the Oktoberfest stayed in the 70-degree range with plenty of sun.

Rick and Nancy Gromersch of Nicollet were able to attend Schell’s Oktoberfest for the first time entirely because of the nice weather. Rick is a farmer and is typically busy bringing in the harvest during Oktoberfest; however, because the fall season has been so dry for the first time in his farming career he is ahead of schedule.

“I am never going to be done this early again,” Rick Gromersch said.

Rick and Nancy were excited about the chance to partake in the festival that many of their friends attended. The two were excited to meet up with friends that cannot normally see this time of year.

Rodney Tow came from Fairmont and comes to New Ulm several times a year. He has experienced authentic German Oktoberfests since he was once stationed there as a First Sergeant.

“It’s a beautiful day,” he said. “This is the only Oktoberfest we go to until we go to Germany. I was stationed in Germany for a while. So I’ve been to several festivals in Germany, and the Oktoberfests are very fun.”

New Ulm native Connor Portner, who works as the brewery gift shop manager, said that the crowds were commonplace during Oktoberfest, but he felt good about the Brewery’s event.

“We’re expecting busy crowds, and some people to have some fun out here,” he said. “I’ve worked here for over two and a half years now, and I enjoy New Ulm a lot. It’s a fun town, I absolutely love it here. It’s usually pretty crazy out here during Oktoberfest, we’re hoping for a good crowd.”

James Voyles came from Northwest Iowa to take in Oktoberfest for the first time. Voyles is originally from California where he has participated in a few Oktoberfests, but said that this was the best and most traditional one he has been to.

“I’ve never been to New Ulm or the Oktoberfest here,” he said. “We’ve wanted to look up a good Oktoberfest this year, and we heard about this one and checked into the brewery at Schell’s, and we are really impressed they are still making beer in the original building. The location is beautiful, right along the river. Very, very nice.”

Derek Brooks, of Des Moines, Iowa is a long-time attendee of New Ulm festivals. He came to the brewery in his lederhosen but was also joined by his father-in-law Jeff Reynolds. This was Reynolds’s first visit to Schell’s but said he had wanted to come for a while.

“My son-in-law and daughter have been coming to Bockfest for years and I’ve always had an interest in coming,” he said.

Reynolds is an amateur beer brewer. He has made his own beer by a variety of methods, including boiling it over a 5-gallon kettle on the stove. He was hoping to visit Schell’s and sample their stock but avoided the Bockfest celebration because he did not want to come during the cold winters.

“I didn’t know about the Oktoberfest festival until this year,” Reynolds said. He jumped at the chance to join his son-in-law for this visit and the celebration did not disappoint.

“It’s got a fair and carnival atmosphere,” he said. “What better way could you spend a Saturday afternoon. It’s the perfect fall day. The leaves are turning colors. You’ve got it all here.”

Reynolds further complimented New Ulm as a whole. He and his family were staying in Flandrau State Park for the weekend. Space was limited forcing them to stay in a rustic campsite without electricity, but he said it did not matter, the park was so beautiful.

There were also games that people participated in, like the bean bag toss and Hammerschlagen, or simply, the hammer and nail game. Tom Kaehler and Ron Schafer were on hand to demonstrate the game, which consists of hammering a nail into a tree trunk and to win the nail must be flush or below the surface of the wood.

A large group of eight women and men walked the grounds in custom pink shirts that read “Fo Shizzle Mein Schnitzel,” which they said roughly translates to “fried flat meat.” One of the women, Anica Thomas has attended a few Oktoberfests.

“We went to Oktoberfest in La Crosse, and we had shirts there. We went to Bockfest back in March,” Thomas said. “Our friend’s mom likes to make shirts. So we go around and we have a good time together. We’re just a big family honestly. We do breakfast and lunch, so it’s a grand old time.”

Brielle Franke and Drew Weidner, a couple from out of town were on hand for their first time. Franke’s from Rosemont and Weidner is from Hastings. Weidner had studied abroad in Germany, although the only words he picked up on was “danke schoen” which translates to “thank you.”

“We both have a little bit of German in us,” Franke said. “Attending Oktoberfest was something we were interested in, so we came here to enjoy it.”

“I toured Munich and Berlin, now here we are,” Weidner said. “I loved it, it was awesome, the culture was great, the beer was great, the food was great. They do Oktoberfest up big there.”

Not all the Oktoberfest fun was centered on Schell’s. Many chose to celebrate downtown. Despite having pre-sales tickets to Schell’s, Makena Shobe, Alaina Bartel, and Ava Brauer started their afternoon at Sweet Haven Tonic downtown and remained there until after 2 p.m.

“We are stopping here because our friend is the bartender and we wanted to have a quick drink,” Shobe said. “Our other friend from Nebraska is visiting, so we are going up to Schell’s to see what is going on.”

Alaina Bartel is from Camden, North Carolina, and is also a student at Martin Luther College. This was her first year attending Oktoberfest in New Ulm. To visit her friends and attend the celebration, Ava Brauer traveled from Lincoln, Nebraska.

“I’ve known them for a very long time, and they are important to me,” she said.

Oktoberfest also continued downtown with the 9th annual CraftoberFest on 1st St. N, between Broadway and Minnesota. The vendors were selling arts, and crafts, shirts, posters, cups, and other unique items.

Lori’s Little Side Gig was selling insulated, adult-sized drinkware, which is owned and operated by Lori Schoer. Her biggest sales of the day were 40 oz. Tumblers, koozies and wine tumblers.

Another vendor, Josh Schultz with Funny Farm Pain Relief. The cream and edibles are intended to alleviate pain, Schultz produced it because he was suffering from arthritis caused by three back surgeries, leaving him with two rods and four screws in his back.

“The surgery fixed my back,” he said. “Then it created arthritis, so I created (the product) for arthritis, and since people have written back for hip pain, hip replacement, knee pain, feet pain, neuropathy, growing pains for kids because you cannot get high from the pain cream.”

The Oktoberfest fun would continue downtown after the Schell’s Brewery closed at 5 p.m. Many of the festival goers came to Minnesota Street for food and drinks.