Oktoberfest, Coeur d’Alene’s two-day event on Sherman and Second avenues that celebrates the Bavarian tradition of consuming food and beer in states of splendor, brought in huge crowds over the weekend, the Downtown Association said.

“We sold out of tickets,” Emily Boyd of the Downtown Association reported. “We had 2,500 tickets sold, and that didn’t include family and friends who joined in. We had about 5,000 people in attendance. It was a great turnout.”

Those numbers did not include Saturday’s Coeur d’Fondo, the event’s accompanying bike ride around Lake Coeur d’Alene. Despite inclement weather both days, Boyd said she couldn’t have hoped for a better turnout.

“Even on Friday, the weather wasn’t that great,” she said. “But people were coming out to it in droves. It rained all day — the weather was terrible — and people were still out there. It’s remarkable.”

The annual event featured seven bands this year: JamShack, North Hill Trio, Radio Shine, Pastiche, Laketown Sound, Red Light Challenge and Royale. Roughly 30 beer vendors made camp in three venues over the course of the two-day event, leading to Boyd’s only regret of the weekend.

“Next year, we need to order more glassware,” she said. “We had a lot of people coming after we sold out.”

Attendees had their choice of events this weekend, as Think Big, Park(ing) It On Sherman, the Riverstone anniversary and Oktoberfest all competed for attention. Event organizers reported strong numbers; vendors and attendees at the German celebration were ecstatic.

“It was fabulous,” Ilene Moss of All Things Irish said. “It was a great turnout. We served our popular Irish Death, a dark and stout beer. People loved it…[We had] hundreds of people show up in line. It was really our best year ever.”

When asked what makes Coeur d’Alene’s Oktoberfest stand out, Moss said the organization and layout of the event are most appealing.

“I think the way that it’s set up, that you have different locations that people can mingle in, in different atmospheres, that’s what impresses me,” she added. “People can go at their own leisure. That’s what makes it unique.”

She added the authenticity of its participants — from vendors to attendees —made the weekend even more fun.

“Just being there with the people,” she said. “We get dressed up with the costumes, and other people come in costume. And we have a favorite coleslaw dish, so we served our coleslaw shooters with little sausages. We’re Irish here, but we don’t mind being German for a weekend.”

“This was a great time for vendors,” Boyd said. “It was a great weekend for our businesses, all the surrounding businesses. It was a great weekend for restaurants. It was great for the bars after the event. This is always something that brings in great business to the downtown area.”