German festival hitting downtown Graham

Following the success of their Cinco De Mayo event in May, the Graham Downtown Business Association is kicking off another inaugural event on the downtown square this month with Grahamtoberfest. 

The event will take place from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12 on Fourth Street and Oak Street. At the event will be a large tent offering authentic German beers and cuisine including bratwurst, sausage, pretzels and more. 

“We’re going to have one big food tent with a lot of different types of German street food. So we’ll have pretzels, we’ll have turkey legs, we’re going to do German sides (and) we’ll have some German sweets available,” GDBA member Eleanor Burkett said.

The organizers are looking to make the event a family outing with a kids garden area with games, crafts and activities available as well as a pumpkin patch.

“Laura Stephens every year has a pumpkin patch at her house right outside of Graham, and she’s setting up a pumpkin patch (at the event),” GDBA member Neri Gonzales said.  “...People can buy pumpkins (and) take pictures.”

Gonzales said one of the biggest highlights of the event is that the organization is partnering with businesses on the square to push visitors and the community to their storefronts.

“The whole purpose of events like this that are put on by the Graham Downtown Business Association, is to bring people to the square and keep the community together and also supporting small business,” she said. “That’s just so important. We need that. We need that so much right now these days, especially on the square. We want all the businesses to stay open and be able to serve the community.”

Similar to their previous event, the streets will be closed and walkable, which Burkett said makes it unique to Graham.

“It shows them how really walkable our square is, and how you really can make a fun afternoon out of it on this day or another,” she said. “If you come and you start at one end, you can walk and enjoy the whole square and find something on each block that is unique and different, and that’s what is fun to tell people from out of town, too.”

Those who attend can visit shops around the square using a punch card which can be used to enter for prizes.

“All the shops that are participating are donating items up to $50 so there will be a big grand prize basket with something from each of the stores that are participating. So if you get all of your punches done during the festival, then you can put it in to draw,” Burkett said. 

Along with the downtown stores will be vendors offering a number of products. 

Following the conclusion of the event, Neri’s and the Middle Sister are partnering to offer live music and German food and fun downtown. One of the requests from Cinco De Mayo was to have the event last longer, and that’s what the organization did with the Grahamtoberfest event. 

“We are adding three extra hours to the event, and so that gives people six hours to hang out, drink beer, eat good German food, eat sausage from St. Mary’s Church and bring their kids, and the kids can have fun all day,” Gonzalez said.

Burkett said the event gives both those unfamiliar and used to the square an opportunity to come downtown, support local businesses and enjoy themselves.

“It’s introducing people that don’t regularly come to the square to what all is there, all the different things that you can find down here. It’s also reminding people that do frequent all of our businesses that we need you often, ...if you like what we’re doing, we need you to come often, because it’s not always smooth sailing as a small, independent business,” she said. “I think all of us are kind of banding together to just remind the community that we’re your neighbors, we’re your friends.”