Bockfest is continuing for 2021, and while it’s going to look a little different than we’re used to, this is one of those years that Bockfest stands tall. The importance of this event shines brighter than ever in a year like this one, and before I dig into the details of this years event, I really want to explore that idea for a minute if you’ll let me.

What Is Bockfest?

On the surface, our Bockfest celebration is about a beer style. It’s a lot like Oktoberfest, in that we use a beer to give us an excuse to get together and celebrate the heritage of our city. But as soon as you get there, you realize that there is something very, very different about Bockfest.

Yeah, the parade is a little weird. Sure… the style of beer that we’re celebrating is a strange one. And the time of year? You never really know what it’s going to be like.

So… instead of assuming that Bockfest is like Oktoberfest in the Spring, take a big step back, and explore what’s happening behind the beers, sausage, and goofy festivities.

Bockfest is about perseverance.

Weather? Community Struggles? Pandemics? Bockfest Fuel.

When Bockfest started it was a parade to celebrate the release of a bock beer… but at a time when OTR looked very differently than it does now, it quickly became a celebration of a neighborhood. Throughout the years there have been a lot of struggles. From the obvious hurdles that OTR as a neighborhood has been forced to overcome – to epic snowstorms that cancelled every thing (expect Bockfest) – and this year to a global pandemic – these things don’t ruin a festival, they give it a purpose.

Each thing that should have destroyed a normal festival only fuel Bockfest and reveal it’s true purpose. It’s about hope.

You can go easy, and just look on the surface at the fact that Bockfest happens in the spring, right as weather is changing, while we look forward to better weather and the hope of better days ahead… but it’s so much deeper now.

We have hope for growth in our neighborhoods, that we can get together and help build upon historic foundations that hold the lifeblood of what Cincinnati is. And for 2021? We have hope for a light at the end of a very, very long tunnel. We have hope for local businesses that we’re desperately trying to support as much as possible. We’ve got endless hope for our friends, and our families to stay healthy, to make it through unprecidented times… and Bockfest? It’s a festival for that.

So yeah – this year looks a little different. But does it really? Maybe it looks even more like itself in 2021 than it has in quite a few years.

How We Celebrate This Year

Things have to go digital this year. We were anticipating that, right? While Bockfest might have been the last big celebration before Covid took over last year, they aren’t going to be able to be the first one as we come out of this. It’s just not possible to safely provide a space for a parade, Bockfest hall, the sausage queen and other events… but that doesn’t mean it’s cancelled.

You can’t cancel Bockfest, it’s bigger than us.

The folks behind Bockfest have created a series of packages that will help you, (and me) celebrate safely at home on the weekend of March 5-7.

The packages include stuff like:

• The annual Bockfest poster from artist Jim Effler
• T-Shirt from Cincy Shirts
• Commemorative Bockfest pint glasses
• Mixed 6, or 12 packs of local bock beer
• Bockwurst
• Pretzels from Servatii
• Books of Jim Effler artwork
• Historic Brewery Tour Tickets

If you want to see the separate packages (and buy your own) head over here to do it… and I’m telling you… do it.