T-R FILE PHOTO A massive crowd gathered for last year’s Oktemberfest parade on Church Street in Marshalltown. This year’s parade scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. will return to Main Street, and the festival as a whole kicks off on Thursday afternoon.

Oktemberfest family fall festival offers kids’ activities, carnival rides, food, live music, crafters/merchants, tournaments, and more. This year’s theme is “Easy Come, Easy Dough” and the fun begins Thursday afternoon, concluding Sunday afternoon.

Festivities will take place along and off Main Street. The stage will be set up between Brit Marie’s and Zamora Fresh Market.

Scott Amusements LLC will be running the carnival and it will be open Thursday and Friday from 5 p.m. to close and Saturday 11 a.m. to close and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

Beer and wine vendors will feature Thirsty Pigs and Lucky Wife Wine Slushies, plus there will be several food vendors open daily throughout the event. Confirmed food vendors will include: Sno-2-Go, Comal Kaxi, Boba Tea, Maria’s Tacos, Kettle Corn, Woodfired Pizza, Yanni’s Greek Grill, Most Wanted Coffee, Dave’s Donuts, Kiwanis, Acai Bowl and Wisconsin Dell’s Cheese Curds. Some food vendors may run limited menus Thursday night.

“I want people to come out and enjoy the live music, enjoy the atmosphere, enjoy the parade. There’s a lot going on and a lot of things that don’t cost any money,” said Oktemberfest Board President Tammy Losing. “It should be enjoyable for all ages.”

Crafters/merchants will sell their wares Friday from 5 p.m. to close and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to close. Items for sale will include: toys for children and pets, jewelry, clothing, purses, leather goods, craft kits, blankets, soaps, woodworking pieces, and more, from local and area artisans.

Thursday is kids’ night from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. and it will offer Yessy’s Creations (life-sized cartoon characters) perfect for photo ops, kids’ arm wrestling table, Tae Kwon Do demonstration, fire truck and smoke trailer, police car, kids’ yoga and vendors. Sign up for Little Mr. and Little Miss Oktemberfest from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., open to first and second graders in Marshall County. Winners will participate in the parade.

“The two children that win will get a $50 gift card to buy dress clothes for the event and they will be able to keep their crown and cape. It should be cute,” Losing said.

The MONSTER Arm Wrestling for those aged 16 and under is free and will run from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

DJ Tay Bear will be on hand, and the night will end with music by Sheltered Reality.

The Oktemberfest Classic Car, Truck, & Motorcycle Show will run 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on 4 East Main Street on Friday. Car Show registration is 5 to 7 p.m. Cost is $20 per vehicle payable at the gate. There will be top 25 awards announced at 8 p.m. For more information, contact Andrez Lizarde at 641-351-2501. Live music will run from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. by the Blacktop Band.

On Saturday, the parade will be held along Main Street. Staging will begin around 8 a.m. near Miller Middle School. It will start at 10 a.m. and run until around 12:30 p.m. The last day to sign up to be entered was Sept. 20. Losing said a highlight for the day will be a meet and greet with master cake baker Andrew Fuller from 11 a.m. to noon, who will serve as the parade’s grand marshal.

“Baking is part of where the ‘dough’ idea came from for this year’s theme,” Losing added. “Plus two of our diamond sponsors are credit unions — Members 1st and Lennox Employees Credit Union — and then Emerson is also a diamond sponsor.”

The Oktemberfest Car Show/Car Hop Competition will see registration from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. with the event happening from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on 4 East Main Street. It costs $20 per vehicle payable at the gate with more information available by contacting Lizarde.

Live music afternoon will see Grupo Nueva Herencia perform from 1 to 2 p.m., followed by La Batallosa Banda 3 Ranchos from 2 to 4 p.m., with guest MC DJ Samuel from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

A cornhole tournament by Iowa Valley Cornhole will set up and have registration Saturday at 10 a.m. It will start at 12:30 p.m. on the north and west sides of the courthouse and grass lot southwest of Main and Center streets. Live music will go from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. by Happy Endings Omaha.

Sunday will start with the Oktemberfest Community Fun Run/Jog/Walk meeting at 8 a.m. in front of the YMCA-YWCA. Note that the kids’ fun run and 5K/10K have been changed to a community run on the Marshalltown bike trail. There will be a shotgun start. Increments of half, one, two and three miles will be marked. Turn around when you like.

At 11 a.m. there will be a community prayer service. The spiritual speaker Cedric Brown will be doing the English service from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and there will be a Spanish translation to follow.

Losing said new this year is the Pokemon Tournament, in partnership with Game Haven, set up on the courthouse lawn. It will run from 1 to 4 p.m.

“If it would rain, the rain out place will be Game Haven,” Losing said. “We’re excited because Pokemon seems to be a really popular game.”

An arm wrestling tournament for big kids and adults will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. with registration and weigh-ins from noon to 1 p.m. Live music on Sunday will feature Trevor Parish from noon to 4 p.m. with a 1 p.m. intermission by the MHS Mariachi Mi Pueblo.

Parking is available in the surrounding city and county parking lots and side streets. Pets are allowed but dogs must be leashed.

To learn more, visit: www.oktemberfest.com.