Smaller Oktoberfest still has bands, beer, brats

Ask any of the other months and they'll tell you October always has been a little flashy.

Lots of leaves changing color. Kids in kaleidoscope costumes. Spooky stories.

There's even a celebration named after it: Oktoberfest.

It's enough to make the remaining calendar pages feel a bit down in the month, er, mouth; nobody sings the praises of February.

But this year in Naperville, Mr. La-De-Da October might be humbled just a bit.

It's not that the city won't welcome him - that would be downright rude. But this week's bash will be more subdued than those of recent autumns when the Naperville Rotary Club installed a big tent downtown and folks dressed in lederhosen and goofy hats and danced to oompah bands.

This time around, Oktoberfest has fallen to the folks at Naper Settlement and even they admit they're coming a little late to the party.

So rather than the four-day festival that used to pay tribute to our 10th month with the traditional sound of polkas, the settlement is planning a more intimate two-day affair that runs from 3 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 2-3, on the grounds of the 19th-century living-history museum at 523 S. Webster St.

But fear not, says John Buckley, the settlement's director of institutional advancement, while this will be a little more low-key than the Rotary shindigs there will still be plenty of "brats, bands and beer."

Only instead of a bunch of guys with lily white legs playing the tuba, there will be some local Naperville classic rock and cover bands performing with names like No Show Joe, ECHO and Nomo Mojo.

Food for the celebration, which Buckley hopes will draw about 1,000 people over its two-day run, will be provided by My Chef Catering. And there will be a tent to keep out any nasty weather.

Tickets are $8 in advance online and $10 at the gate. After 4 p.m. each day visitors also will be able to prowl the grounds and take a look at some of the other things the settlement has to offer. Proceeds will go to the Naperville Heritage Society.

There's no discounts for kids this time around and parents should be aware there are no activities planned for youngsters.

Buckley says museum organizers already are looking ahead to next year to see how they can better tie the celebration to the settlement's mission. After all, he says, Naperville has a strong German heritage and once was home to several breweries - and the museum has the artifacts to prove it.

With that in mind, it may turn out October and Naper Settlement were made for each other.

That's not exactly good news for say, November, but it's gotta give a little extra cache to a look-at-me month like October because while it's always nice to have some flash, it never hurts to have a little history behind you, too.

If you go

What: Naperville's Oktoberfest

When: 3-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 2-3

Where: Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster St.

Cost: $8 online in advance; $10 at the gate; proceeds benefit Naperville Heritage Society

Info: www.napersettlement.org