Beer, Garlic & Tractor Pulls Abound In Connecticut This Weekend

CONNECTICUT — It looks like Hurricane Lee will miss most if not all of Connecticut, and instead the weather is shaping up to make for a pretty perfect September weekend.

Of course, in Connecticut, it wouldn't be September without Oktoberfest.

The first-ever Oktoberfest was in 1810 — and in October, thank you very much — when Princess Therese of Sachsen-Hildburghausen got hitched to the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig. It became an annual holiday commemorating the royal love birds' nuptials. Later the Bavarians, an eminently practical and beer-loving people, prolonged the holiday but started it in September, when it was warmer. Americans start breaking out the sauerkraut in mid-September, and in some towns continue to pour into November.

In Connecticut, the lederhosen leader may very well be in Stratford, where the "Oct2berfest" at Two Roads Brewing Company is entering its 10th year, this Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 6:30 p.m.

The fest at Two Roads is not just about the brews (of which there will be many, many): Revelers can test their arm strength at the Stein Hoisting Competition, and their gastrointestinal resolve at the Bratwurst Eating Competition.

The polka music will be inescapable, of course, but The Mighty Ploughboys are also on the bill, as are Katy Thompson Band and Bela's Bartok. The $30 admission tickets are available online here.

Louis Diat, the French-American chef who invented vichyssoise, said there are five elements: earth, air, fire, water and garlic. No doubt Chef Louis would be in his element this weekend in Mystic when the 16th Annual Garlic Festival sprawls throughout Olde Mistick Village.

Visitors will enjoy garlic in every form, of course, but also specialty foods and craft bakeries, along with continuous live music. Festival hours are Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Hop atop your John Deere and release the pigeons, my dude: the Orange Country Fair returns to the Orange Fairgrounds this weekend. There'll be music, pig races, a tractor pull, an antique car show and plenty more family events and entertainment on Saturday 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday until 6 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors, and free for children 14 and under.

Connecticut's second-oldest agricultural fair opens Friday and runs through the weekend. The Guilford Fair will host concerts by Red Light, Zac Brown Tribute Band, and The Lords of 52nd Street. Overhead will be the one-and-only Flying Wallendas, and closer to earth a zoo show, a pancake breakfast and more pig races (how long has that been a thing?) Find everything you need to know about the fair here.

The Four Town Fair in Somers is considered the oldest continuous agricultural fair in Connecticut, according to its organizers, and it begins Thursday and runs for four days. The fairgrounds at 56 Egypt Road open at 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and at 8 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. There will be contests galore (baking, pie-eating, quilting and more) as well as live music, an illusionist, horse show, livestock judging, and much pulling of horses, ponies, oxen and doodlebugs.

Bonus fair, just over the border: "The Big 'E'" in West Springfield, MA, is enormous, as the only multi-state fair in the country ought to be. It kicks off Friday, and will run for the next 17 uniquely-themed days ("Connecticut Day" is Sept. 20).

Opening weekend musical headliners include John Fogarty, Jimmy Eat World and Parker McCollum, but who's got time to sit for a concert when there's Big E's famous giant slide, shopping at the farmers market, all those rides, or eating continuously?