Your Guide to Oktoberfest Celebrations at Rochester, MN Breweries

Oktoberfest celebrations are right around the corner already. Remember, Oktoberfest is actually celebrated in September. Weird, I know, but they changed it way back when because the weather was better in September than in October. Seriously.

Anyway, there are always tons of Oktoberfest celebrations that happen throughout southeast Minnesota, many of them happening at local breweries, of course.

Last week, I wrote about a new Oktoberfest event coming to Rochester, MN. I had mistakenly made the assumption that it was being put on by the city. It's not. It's being put on by the same group of people responsible for Downtown Dazzle, the holiday light parade that happened for the first time last holiday season.

READ MORE: New Oktoberfest Event Taking Over Downtown Rochester, MN

After that story, I wanted to make sure I also got the chance to feature our amazing local breweries that will also be putting on their own Oktoberfest celebrations!

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Rochester, MN Breweries Oktoberfest Celebrations for 2025

I'm a huge advocate for supporting local and local breweries, so it's my honor to be able to tell you about all of these places and share the cool things they have going on.

Forager

As of writing this story, Forager doesn't have an event for Oktoberfest on their events calendar yet. They do, however, have their 10-year anniversary party coming up on Saturday, September 6th.

Kinney Creek

No plans yet for Kinney Creek, either, but if plans do come around, I'll get this updated!

Little Thistle

Little Thistle's annual Oktoberfest celebration is on Saturday, September 27th from noon - 8 PM! There will be plenty of beer and polka music, as well as Heimstead and 2 Cavemen Grillin food trucks.

LTS

LTS will host their Oktoberfest celebration on Saturday, September 13th from 2 - 9 PM. No specific details at the moment, but they mentioned on their Facebook event that more details are coming.

Thesis

Thesis does their own take on Oktoberfest, and this year, for the 5th year in a row, they'll be hosting Punktoberfest! It'll be kicking off Friday, September 19th at 6 PM and will continue on Saturday, September 20th, as well.

You can buy a two-day pass in advance for $25, or you can get single-day tickets only on the day of for $15.

The lineup includes:
Hastings 3000 / Birdcop / Toilet Rats / Busey / Cindy Lawson / Laura Larson / NOTT / Unstable Shapes / Homunculus Rex / Bunny blood / Flack / Surly Grrly / Be Wary / Maudlin / O.S. Offline