Hence, the plethora of Oktoberfest celebrations taking place across San Diego County over the next month.

A quick history: Oktoberfest began on Oct. 12, 1810, when King Ludwig I invited the citizens of Munich to celebrate his marriage to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on the fields in front of the city’s gates. Since then, the festivities began to focus on ale and moved back a few weeks, running from late September to the first weekend of October. But, here in America, Oktoberfest mainly consists of a scattering of events over the course of October.

For San Diegans, Ocean Beach’s Oktoberfest this weekend is the best bet for getting fucked up during the beer-filled month. For the first time, the annual party has added a second day to the schedule, extending the event from Friday, Oct. 7 through Saturday night, Oct. 8.

Friday is set to include the finals of Beer Garden Band Slam, a battle of the bands exclusively for tribute artists. Todash (all rock covers), Back 2 Black (AC/DC covers), MC Funk (Parliament Funkadelic covers), Red Not Chili Peppers (Red Hot Chili Peppers covers) and two wild-card bands (to be determined) will compete for $4,000 cash — and whatever glory comes with mastering music that isn’t actually your own.

Beer-lovers should start early Friday at the 91X Happy Hour Celebration. For 91 minutes (from 5 p.m. to 6:31 p.m.) the radio station is offering two-for-one beers and brats for festival attendees. Plus, a note for the desperate and the already-drunk: Anyone who shows up in a blonde wig or blonde braids gets free entry into the beer garden (normally $3) and an official Oktoberfest beer boot.
Saturday’s a good day for the pre-gaming underagers. There will be a sausage-toss competition (with a $10,000 cash prize) in addition to food, vendors and live music throughout the all-ages grassy area at the end of Newport Ave.

Those who are 21 and older, however, should throw down $15 for tasting tickets to the OB Brew Cup from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, where you can try six tastes of 15 local microbrews. These include beers by Ballast Point Brewing Company, Coronado Brewing Company and Green Flash Brewing Company.
 
For safe transport to and from the festival, take the 30 bus route from campus to Pacific Beach and then hop on one of Oktoberfest’s free shuttles to the event, departing from 710 Beach Club at 710 Garnet Ave.