Crowds lined up for horse-drawn hayrides from during Saturday's Oktoberfest at Concordia Lutheran Ministries in Cabot. Hundreds came out for annual event that featured a German band, German-themed food, pumpkin painting and other children's activities.

JEFFERSON TWP — Hundreds came out Saturday for the annual Oktoberfest celebration hosted by Concordia Lutheran Ministries.

The German-themed event featured fun, food and even free flu shots.

“Where we're from, we're not used to a community doing events like this,” said Jessica Bisignano, of Cabot, as she and her son, 9-year-old Landon Phillips, decorated a pumpkin. “It's such a nice community around here. More generous. More friendly.”

The family just moved to the area from Altoona and attended their first Oktoberfest this weekend. Landon said he loved the Bavarian food featured at the event but was most looking forward to hitting the bouncy house.

The annual celebration featured a little bit of everything German for everyone. From the bratwurst, sauerkraut, spaetzle and sauerbraten on the menu to the horse-drawn hayrides, balloon artist and bounce-house castle for the kids, a large crowd showed up to enjoy the free community event.

“We just had dinner. It was all pretty good. They had a good band,” said 91-year-old Dot Kane, a Concordia resident originally from Gibsonia.

Kane, who just moved into Concordia this year, enjoyed the festival and a walk around the sprawling grounds with her daughter and her niece.

The late afternoon event ended Saturday evening with a fireworks display outside, while the Mikey Dee Polka Band entertained festivalgoers inside. In addition to the German-themed food and music, no Oktoberfest would be complete without a traditional beer tent.

“We've never been on a horse-pulled hayride before,” said Sarver mom Chelsey Fajbik, who came out Saturday with her daughters, Kendall and Teagan, ages 5 and 3. “We had a friend tell us about the event. There are lots of kid-friendly activities.”

While Fajbik and the girls' grandmother, Jessica “Kiki” Husarik, enjoyed spending time with them, the two girls couldn't wait to enjoy all the children's activities — especially pumpkin painting.

“We want to paint pumpkins next,” yelled an excited Teagan as the family got off the hayride and made their way onto the next activity.