Fire up the yodelers for Marblefest is back for another day of delight downtown

A glorious flight of lagers awaits us once again at Marblefest!

Stretch out those stein-holding arms, ready the vocal cords, and bust out those once-a-year German outfits, it’s Marblefest time.

The annual celebration of the start of autumn, Marble style, kicks off this Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. at the downtown taproom. Admission is free from noon to 2 (or free all day if you are wearing a dirndl or lederhosen), $10 thereafter. No strollers and no dogs, please.

We recently caught up with outgoing events coordinator (who will be missed) Amy Levine to learn all the pertinent details.

“We’re kind of going off of what we did last year,” she said. “Something new that we did last year was we added DJs to the north lot. It seemed to be a huge hit. It kept the crowd out there until we closed the north lot at 10 o’clock, which was amazing.”

We shall inhabit this tent again for a few hours this Saturday.

The north lot will be the epicenter of the festival, fenced in from the outside and covered by a glorious tent. Marble and nine of their best brewery friends will be pouring one beer apiece back there.

“This year our participating brewery lineup is a little different,” Levine said. “We have two new breweries that have joined us for a total of nine.”

The lineup:

Bosque: Oktoberfest
Boxing Bear: OktoBEARfest
Canteen: Oktoberfest
Ex Novo: German Overalls
La Cumbre: Oktoberfest
Marble: Marblefest
Nexus: Festbier
Second Street (new for 2024): Oktoberfest
Sidetrack (new): Das Lager
Tractor: Traktoberfest

Marble will be pouring Marblefest lager, and let me just say that this is the best batch to date of this festbier, and it’s currently available in cans and on draft at all three taprooms. It isn’t cheating if you get some before the festival.

You can preview the festival with its namesake beer, now available at all Marble taprooms.

“We will be offering the fest beer flights, as well,” Levine said. “A flight will be five beers of (your) choice, 10 total including Marblefest. The flights will be $12.”

While the beers are the stars of this particular event, there is a sizable supporting cast, so to speak. Urban Hotdog will be serving up some German-style brats and sausages from noon to 8 p.m., and New Mex-A-Que will be putting their own spin on Oktoberfest from 4 to 11 p.m. There will also be some tasty little treats from a returning Rio Rancho restaurant.

“A couple of years ago, we had Dagmar’s Delectables,” Levine said. “She (the owner) had passed away shortly after that. I wasn’t sure if they were still open or not, but they reached out this year. That’s a last-minute add to the festivities. They’ll be serving up some strudel under the stairs (to the Skydeck) or in the north lot, wherever we have the most room. Adding them back to the (lineup) is great.”

Those will be sold from noon to 6, so take note if your sweet tooth needs satiating and it starts getting a little later in the day.

The taproom is already looking quite festive.

The various contests will be back, as well, with sign-ups in the north lot. The stein-holding contest will be held from 3:15 to 3:30, and then a second time from 5:30 to 5:45. The best dressed for dirndl and lederhosen will be held from 4:15 to 4:30.

“And, we’re going to do a yodeling contest,” Levine said. “Last year was the first year we had done a yodeling contest, and we did it a little early, around 2, so people didn’t have the liquid courage yet. So we moved that to 7 to 7:15.”

Like we said up top, starting warming up the old pipes. Grab some Ricola, if necessary.

Or, you can leave the singing to the professionals. Here is the band lineup for the main stage:

Nathan Fox & Friends, 2-2:45 p.m.
Trinity Soul, 3:15-4 p.m.
Sweet Roll, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
JD Nash And The Rash Of Cash, 6-7 p.m.
Reviva, 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Slums of Harvard, 9-10 p.m.

The north lot DJs are DJ Jimmy Djembe from 5 to 7 and DJ Wae Fonkey from 7 to 9.

“We’re hoping for good weather,” Levine said. “On the anniversary (in April) it rained, which was a super bummer, the weather was against us.”

At last check, temperatures will be in the low 90s with about a 30-percent chance of rain later in the afternoon, so in other words no one really knows how it will be on Saturday. Just know that rain will likely pass quickly, if it arrives at all, and there are plenty of places to take shelter for a few minutes until it passes. Do not let the monsoon keep you away from this event.

“We’ve been advertising for a little over a month, and I feel that this is going to be even more successful than last year,” Levine said. “This will actually be my last event with Marble. I’m hoping to go out with a bang.”

You have done a bang-up job in the role, Amy, and you’re an even better person, so you will be missed by all of us in the Crew and everyone who attends Marble events. We will raise a stein, or two, in your honor this weekend. A big thanks for all the interviews and help over the years.

“I think overall it’s always been a great fest,” Levine said. “People always love Oktoberfest. So I’m looking forward to it, it should be a blast.”

We could not agree more.

Pröst!

— Stoutmeister