Bloktoberfest

This was only my second time at Bloktoberfest, but definitely not my last. As a resident of Queen Village, I always look for the chance to venture out to Philly’s Rittenhouse neighborhood. Pair the location with the eventually fantastic weather, and it was definitely worthy of the 5star review. Again, I think each brewery and vendor is deserving of their own review, but the event itself was very efficiently run.
Whether or not it was because of the early morning’s dismal weather, there was definitely a much more manageable crowd than some of Philly’s other autumn specialties, like Night Market and Xtoberfest.
I thought the beer bracelet and beer ticket system worked very well. A friend and I had actually won a package through Unilocal,and the registration and picking up of packages was incredibly easy. All of the vendors and staff were very friendly, and I thought the musicians and photographers added a nice touch.
Also, big thanks to the one security guard who sent the leather jacket line cutter to the back on the line!
My advice: get there when you get there. The registration and lines are so well managed, and there never really seemed to be any never ending lines.

The morning of Bloktoberfest dawned cold and rainy – I was worried that the event was going to be canceled, but luckily the weather pulled through and I made my way down to the festival, eagerly anticipating my beer tickets (a must. It saves so much time).
A number of smaller breweries were present at Bloktoberfest, including DuClaw and Neshaminy Creek, which were very exciting. I tried DuClaw’s Sweet Baby Jesus for the first time and almost died of happiness (chocolate and peanut butter porter on a cold and rainy-​ish day? It doesn’t get better). All of the cool food trucks turned up for the festival (looking at you, Cow and the Curd) and there were two big stages featuring local acts that were of course free to see. I really loved West Philadelphia Orchestra and totally jammed out while my friends sought shelter in the bar because they weer «cold.» Pshh.
Closer to five or six, the crowds really started to get thick, but they weren’t as unmanageable as Night Market. Definitely get there for the earlier part of the day so that you can wander about without being too crowded.

On Saturday, I had quite the dilemma on my hands. You see, for months on end, I had been hyping up Mt. Holly’s Witches Ball to my friends. I had attended the last two years and loved that festival. Heck, I even created an event listing for it here on Unilocal!But then I got a look at the vendor listing for Bloktoberfest — a festival that somewhat overlapped in time and would also limit my ability to drive to Mt. Holly.
Here’s one not-​real combined word for my reaction: Holee-​wonderfulness!
In the end, Bloktoberfest won this year’s battle of the outdoor-​adultcentric-​fall-​festivals-​with-​booze. And while I’m sad that I missed the Witches Ball, I’m so happy to have attended this fantastic event! We arrived around 2:30 p.m. (on the heels of another festival!) and quickly grabbed our beer bracelets and tickets. The will call line looked much longer.
Over the course of the afternoon, despite the drizzle and gross cold weather, plenty of fun was had by all! We found food/​beer (my top pick: Boulder’s Kinda Blue), took photos with a Horny Goat mascot that was… in character, and listened to some great performances.
It was also the perfect opportunity to explore the Graduate Hospital neighborhood more. I’m rarely down there, so that was nice. We stopped into the Cambridge to break from the cold, and I, of course, made sure to get a slice of the always-​wonderful butterscotch bourbon at Magpie! My other notable stops were to the Sugar Philly truck (macarons!) and to The Baker’s Jar (little tiny pumpkin cake!).
A couple hours after we arrived, the streets were packed — so it seemed better to come earlier in the day to get the most out of everything.
I’ll definitely be back next year! Unless it’s held on the same day as the Witches Ball again. Then that will be a conundrum.

I am not a large festival type of person, but Bloktoberfest is the exception to the rule. It started off pretty small a few years ago and has since grown to a blocks-​long party on South Street West. I’m a big fan of arriving early, grabbing some drink tickets and hitting up the cool craft beer tents and food trucks. After around 4pm the lines start getting pretty long and the streets are packed. That’s generally when I start thinking about my next move.
The crowd is made up of mostly young professionals and families — I really enjoy that. No one seems to get out of hand (at least, during the daylight hours, from what I can tell) and they stop selling beer tickets at a certain point to help ensure that. The organizers are all about keeping the local businesses and neighbors happy and Bloktoberfest is a very well-​run event overall. Can’t wait for next year!

Had I had even considered reviewing Bloktoberfest before I would have done so 5 years ago when it was Graduate Hospital’s event of the year! But since that time I’ve have seen it grow into a big time festival that showcases everything that’s awesome about my favorite side of South Street.
Deep down I’m happy to say that I was at the first 2 Bloktoberfest’s that took up 2 to 3 blocks of the Graduate Hospital hood just south of Sidecar. And even though they were smaller scale, had fewer food trucks and brews, and the 2^nd one suffered a huge hit by a considerable rain storm; it was a solid event that showcased the best of a South Philly community. And even when it expanded onto the best of South West South Street, teamed up with Bella Vista Beer Distributors to bring in even MORE beer, added in even more food truck and restaurant involvement, and utilized even bigger musical acts; it maintains the central organic theme that it was based on.
This years fest gave me the chance to catch up with bad ass Philly bands like Swift Technique, West Philadelphia Orchestra, and Jason Jefferies & Tall Trees. While it was great to catch up with old food truck standbys like Say Cheese, Koja, and Sugar Philly Truck; I was blown away by new trucks like Mom Mom’s Polish Food Cart. Grabbing familiar brews from the likes of DuClaw and Clown Shoes was definitely a winning combo. But I enjoyed new brews from Horny Goat, and the fact thar Neshiminy Creek brewed Bloktoberfest’s own fest beer. Add in some suitable previews of restaurants I’ve been meaning to try like Rex 1516 and Cambridge; and this year’s festival might have been the best one yet!

As a lover of all things Graduate Hospital, Bloktoberfest is pretty much a personal holiday for me. South Street West is typically a quiet, calm, particularly uneventful area of Center City. Sure, you have some amazing restaurants and bars, but in comparison to its East of Broad counterpart, this strip of South is angelic. So when I woke up on an Saturday in October 2012 to the sounds of live music, happy people and food trucks, I was more than surprised.
«Who are all these people and what the hell are they doing down here?»
Enter Bloktoberfest.
I don’t know how they do it. The four block space isn’t huge, but the somehow have made this THE most enjoyable festival in Center City. Here is why:
1. The option to pre-​purchase beer tickets. How Night Market and Midtown Festival haven’t caught on to this is a shame. You cut so much time typically used to find change or fiddle for bills (although you should still tip your server!). And we all know when you pre-​pay, it sort of feels free later. I’m telling you when they hand out those shiny stacks of beer tickets, you’ll feel like a king.
2. Using empty lots (off the street) for beer tents. This is the game changer. Everyone knows the longest line is usually for booze. This leads to cramped sidewalks and awkward butt/​crotch grazing as you attempt to snake your way around patrons. Well Bloktoberfest has it’s beer distributors set back 100 ft or so away from the sidewalk, while the lines are still long (but so tolerable… it’s beer!), they aren’t ruining the experience for everyone else.
3. Getting local business on board. Last year there was slight drizzle toward the end of the day, but no problem. We just hopped into Bob and Barbara’s for a citywide to wait it out.
4. I live around the corner, so I can pee in my house. Okay, okay, fine this doesn’t apply to everyone, but for me it’s another gamechanger. But still they have plenty of porta-potty’s, so regardless you’re golden.

Nazee Z. and I decided to volunteer for Bloktoberfest this year. Neither of us really heard of this festival in the previous year but we were SOOOO Pumped to go! Come on, you get too drink for a cause. I really liked that the return of this event benefits charities (such a great argument to sell more ticket!)
SOOOo the day of the event, Nazee and I were registered for the 10 to 1PM shift. We started with helping setting up and once the event started, we were stationed at ticketing. I can’t really explain why but it was just a blast, the volunteer team, was amazing, the crowd was a smiley crowd and the organizer kept on pouring us beers and snacks. We ended up staying til almost three and then headed out in the crowd to use the tickets we got from volunteering. I LOVE ciders. so guess where was my first stop?! The cider tent! I can’t really recall the one I had but it was just very good! We got some food too because beer in an empty stomach does not work well for me. We opted for a Ham and Cheese crêpe (which was pretty good), then we got some sandwich from Phoebe BBQ food truck (sooo Good!) and ended with the mac and cheese cart and tried both the heart attack and the pulled pork mac and cheese Everything was so Yummy! I really wanted to try the Pig sum food truck but what I REALLLLY wanted to try was not part of what they offered that day (SAD FACE!)
All in all I had a great time. The weather was fantastic, the beer were amazing and the crowd was good! I will definitely volunteering again next year (plus we get to go to an after party for volunteers only! LOVE it!)

This was the most fun I’ve had in a long time! My friend and I volunteered and that began the great experience.
Our shift was from 10 — 1 and we initally helped set up the festival. Once it began, we sold tickets and I had so much fun we ended up staying till almost three! They were pouring us beer the whole time and giving us candy and everyone was so nice.
After finishing our shift, we were given four free drink tickets! Awesome!
the beer selection was fantastic, I had so many delicious pumpkin beers and unfortunately, the hard root beer I wanted to try was kicked, but that’s ok.
Also, great food! I tried the mac and cheese cart and tried both the heart attack and the pulled pork mac and cheese (go with the heart attack, it’s fantastic).
Seriously, so much fun and such a great area! go, go, go next time it comes!

I’m what you might call a festival-​phile. As my friend said when he ran into me at yet another festival for three weeks in a row «if there is a festival in Philly Melissa P. is there!» True story.
This was my second year at Bloktoberfest and it was once again a good time despite the little fall of rain and some intense lines. $ 15 presale online (with a few dollars processing fee) gets you 3 beer tickets and a sweet wristband, they’re $ 20 the day of. You can get a 5 beer ticket for $ 25 or additional beer tickets for $ 5. There are some fancy strong beers, some ciders, and a lot of pumpkin ales and Oktoberfests. I would recommend going with 3 tickets and taking it from there in case it rains/​gets too loud/​crowded/​your lame friend wants to leave/​your awesome friend gets too drunk and needs to leave, etc.
Lots of food trucks are out and places like Jamaican Jerk Hut, Sawatdee, and Magpie have food for sale. Lots of live music and even activities/​performances for the kiddies (but ya know 26 year olds like to paint pumpkins too!) Some freebies from State Farm, City Fitness and even free on site eyebrow wax! Also love the print your own instagram table. It gets really crowded though so if you’re not into things like night market… I would not recommend.
I’m really not sure what my weekends will look like without all these fall fests, probably a lot of crying and moping around the house.