Savannah Neyman helps to serve up Bavarian pretzels at Sprankle’s Octoberfest in Saxonburg last year. Butler Eagle File Photo

Few towns in the United States have as much German in their blood as Saxonburg. The borough was founded by German immigrant John Roebling in 1832, has a “sister city” in Muhlhausen, Germany, and has seen visits from German officials on multiple occasions.

That means that few towns in America are as equipped to hold an Octoberfest celebration as Saxonburg.

Sprankle’s Octoberfest, now entering its fifth year, is a three-day celebration of German culture in a town which is soaking in it, and it’s main activities begin Friday, Sept. 8, at the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company grounds.

The event truly commences with the third annual Octoberfest Kick-Off Parade on Thursday night, Sept. 7. Participants will line up behind the Dollar General on West Main Street beginning at 6:15 p.m., and the parade itself will start at 7 p.m., ending at Saxonburg Memorial Church.

Parade organizer Kerri Kadyk estimates that “close to 50” participants have signed up to take part in the parade as of the first of September.

There will be four prizes given out for the most distinguished vehicles in the parade — for best Octoberfest theme, best agriculture theme, best group and an honorable mention.

This year, for the first time, the parade will end with a foam party on Main Street.

“We have a truck coming that’s going to blast foam into the streets,” Kadyk said. “So we’ll have a bubble party toward the end.”

Octoberfest will be open to the public 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

There will be all sorts of entertainment for all ages, including carriage rides, tarot card reader Lady Carrie, left-right-center dice tournaments, and a “Kinderland” — a children’s zone featuring inflatables, games and costumed characters.

“We have a bunch of inflatables,” said event coordinator Brittany Lambermont. “We have an inflatable slide. Our Nerf range is back. A bunch of the Knoch sports teams are hosting games in that area as well.”

Brand new to this year will be an archery range, courtesy of Cabot Archery. For $5, anyone can try their hand at being Robin Hood.

“There's also a ‘Robin Hood Challenge’ where you can win a $500 Cabot Archery gift card if you shoot an arrow into a tiny PVC pipe,” Lambermont said.

Saturday will feature a cornhole tournament, as well as a stein-holding competition. Sunday will feature a dachshund race, a costume contest and a polka Mass.

Held simultaneously with Octoberfest will be the inaugural Minglefest, an event created for this year to replace the canceled Saxonburg Festival of the Arts. While the two events are taking place at the same time just a block apart, Minglefest is not a part of Octoberfest.

However, the two events are also not in competition with each other. In fact, during the weekend, visitors can take a shuttle to get from one event to the other. Throughout the weekend, Lernerville Speedway in Sarver will provide free parking, as well as a shuttle stop for visitors to both events.

“We are shuttling people all throughout Saxonburg to Minglefest and Octoberfest, and we're hoping that people will mingle their way down from Minglefest to Octoberfest and vice versa,” Lambermont said.