By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COVINGTON - It started as a small neighborhood festival centered in Goebel Park to celebrate the opening of Covington's German-themed MainStrasse Village.

Twenty-five years later, the MainStrasse Village Oktoberfest has grown into a three-day, six-block event that draws 175,000 celebrants a year for beer, brats and Bavarian hospitality.

This weekend, the festival features 26 food booths, 100 craft vendors, and enough German dancers and bands to resemble a mini Munich.

"Everybody loves a party, and I think people have just gotten to know this one,'' said MainStrasse shop owner Dolores Carpenter, who wore a red and white checkered dirndl at Thursday's kickoff luncheon for Oktoberfest. "In the very beginning, they tried to keep everything as German as they could. Even the vendors were dressed in some kind of German costume.''

At the 1979 MainStrasse Oktoberfest, Carpenter peddled German dolls in handmade costumes for the Donauschwaben Society, a Colerain Township club dedicated to promoting German culture.

Today, the 62-year-old owner of the Linden Noll Gift Haus will mark her 25th consecutive year working an Oktoberfest booth, as she sells beer steins and other German souvenirs from her shop specializing in merchandise with a European flair.

This year's celebration marks a return to authentic German traditions, as reflected in Stacy Schilling's winning Oktoberfest poster reminiscent of the Bauhaus movement in early 20th century Germany.

Events will include log sawing contests, a beer stein carrying contest, and several weddings in the spirit of Crown Prince Ludwig's 1810 celebration that inspired the original Oktoberfest in Munich.

Four couples who recite their vows in front of "Marrying Man'' Steve Hoffman and a crowd of thousands on Saturday and Sunday nights will carry a maypole in a people's parade after the ceremony, and break plates for good luck, in keeping with German traditions.

"We did the log sawing and the barrel rolling that first year, and they were a big hit," said MainStrasse resident Kay Wilson, 58, who helped plan the first MainStrasse Village Oktoberfest. "That's always a lot of fun because it's stuff you normally don't see at festivals."

E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com