Columbus Oktoberfest
Ohio Expo Center (Ohio State Fairgrounds) · Columbus, OH
Opens Friday at 5 PM
Dates and hours
| Days | Hours |
|---|---|
| FriSep 11 | 5 PM–12 AMCloses after midnightFriday 5 pm to midnight; the 00:00 closing time means midnight at the end of this day |
| SatSep 12 | 12 PM–12 AMCloses after midnightSaturday noon to midnight; the 00:00 closing time means midnight at the end of this day |
| SunSep 13 | 12 PM–8 PMSunday |
Location
Details
- Admission
- Free with paid optionsFree admission; parking is $15.00 per vehicle. Food and beverage sales are credit card only, with on-site fest card conversion available.
- Organized by
- Schmidt's (Schmidt family), in partnership with the Ohio Expo Center and the Cox family
- Live music
- German food
- Kids activities
- Craft vendors
Presented by Schmidt's, the German Village restaurant dynasty, Columbus Oktoberfest fills the Ohio Expo Center with three days of German food, beer and music each September. The festival has moved around the city over the decades, starting in Schiller Park and running through German Village before the Schmidt family revived it at the fairgrounds after 2009. Admission is free and roughly 100,000 square feet of the grounds is under cover, so rain rarely derails the weekend. Alongside the stages and Marktplatz vendor hall, the Gemuetlichkeit Games put amateurs through Bavarian strongman-style contests.
Plan your visit
Last verified Sep 7, 2026 from columbusoktoberfest.com