It might be 80 degrees in the afternoon but it's autumn, and the 42nd annual Oktoberfest in La Mesa is this weekend.
Perri Spiller has been coming to La Mesa’s Oktoberfest for about 15 years.
"The bar comes first for Oktoberfest,” Spiller said.
Spiller works in the beer gardens. She said her team of 18 bartenders have one clear purpose.
“To get the beer into your hands as quickly as you want them so you can start dancing with the oompah band,” Spiller said.
More than 100 vendors spread out on La Mesa Boulevard near Fourth Avenue.
This is John Paul Iacoangelo’s first time at the La Mesa festival. Iacoangelo said La Mesa’s Oktoberfest may have roots in the old world, but he likes the way Americans have reinterpreted the traditional German festival.
“I think America adopts these traditions and adapts them,” Iacoangelo said. "Making them Americanized, like bacon wrapped hotdogs.”
The beer flows at La Mesa’s Oktoberfest from noon to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
