Overview Oktoberfest Zinzinnati is Cincinnati's free four-day German heritage festival on the Ohio riverfront, and the city's World's Largest Chicken Dance there has been led by Weird Al Yankovic, George Wendt and Nick and Drew Lachey. It runs Thursday evening through Sunday in mid-September at Sawyer Point and Yeatman's Cove, with German food, beer from more than two dozen breweries and music on its stages. It began as a block party in 1976, and the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, which runs it, bills it as America's largest Oktoberfest. After years on Second and Third streets and a 2023 run on Fifth Street, it moved down to the river parks. The Chamber also produces BLINK and Taste of Cincinnati, and counts more than 3.7 million people at its community events each year. On site In 2025 the River Stage carried the set pieces: the Gemütlichkeit Games on Thursday, the Running of the Wieners, a dachshund race, and a stein hoisting contest on Friday, and the chicken dance itself. The Zinzinnati Festhalle stage hosted Pride Night on Thursday and the start of a 14K and 7K brewery run on Saturday morning, when Sawyer Point also turned over to Family Day. In 2025 more than 25 local, regional, national and German breweries poured, and food came from Cincinnati names such as Servatii Pastry Shop, Graeter's and Goetta and Sweets alongside bratwurst and giant cream puffs. Beer booths take cards and there are no ATMs on the grounds. Dogs stay home unless they are racing. Audience Entry is free and the grounds sit at the foot of downtown, with parking in the paid lots along Eggleston Avenue and the riverfront garages a short walk from the east entrance. The festival celebrates Southwest Ohio's German heritage, and people come dressed for it, in lederhosen and with liter steins. Talent and Influencers The chicken dance was renamed for Cincinnati broadcaster Rich Walburg after his death in 2022. Reds pitcher Brent Suter and Skyline Chili CEO Dick Williams led it in 2025. In 2026 U.S. Navy sailors served as grand marshals for Cincinnati Navy Week, with Local 12 anchor Bob Herzog as emcee. Track record The 2024 festival, the first at the riverfront parks, set an attendance record at 808,300. Taste of Cincinnati, the Chamber's spring food festival, bills itself as the nation's longest-running free culinary arts festival. Brand presence Samuel Adams was presenting sponsor in 2025 and poured its Oktoberfest beer at booths across the grounds, along with its non-alcoholic Just the Haze and Angry Orchard cider. The Chamber sells its festival partnerships with site and display activations, naming rights and brand exclusivity.