Fairplex Oktoberfest 2026 — Pomona

“The stein holds half a liter and the oompah band…”

There's a specific joy in being one of two thousand people all raising a full stein at the same moment, and no home bar will ever reproduce it. That's the whole case for driving out to Pomona on an October Friday: the oom-pah band hits, someone three tables over starts the toast, and suddenly a fairground full of strangers is rowdy together in the way that only happens when everyone commits to the same ridiculous, wonderful bit.

The Fairplex has room most Oktoberfests don't — this isn't a bar that hung some banners, it's the LA County Fair grounds turned into an actual open-air beer garden. German and craft on tap, pretzels and bratwurst and schnitzel doing exactly what they're supposed to, live polka carrying over all of it. It runs multiple weekends, and most people pick one Friday, make a night of it, and quietly start planning next year's before they've left the lot.

21+. Every Friday and Saturday evening in October, 6–11pm, at the Fairplex in Pomona — about 30 miles east of downtown on the 10, or the Metrolink San Bernardino Line to Pomona North. Designated-driver deals at the gate. Bring the friends who'll do the toast without being asked twice.