THERE were prosts aplenty as hundreds of revellers packed out the shed at Bendigo Harness Racing Club and Lords Raceway for the second Bendigo Oktoberfest today.

Men and women dressed up in traditional Bavarian attire such as Lederhosen and Dirndl while drinking merrily out of large steins. 

Festivities throughout the day, which runs until 8pm tonight, included live music, a tug-of-war competition, and a Miss Mr Bavaria competition. 

Organiser Chris Kelly said the day had succeeded in trumping last year’s inaugural event at the raceway.

“The organisation has been a lot better, a lot smoother,” he said.

“We got the queues sorted out this year. Punters have had a really good day.”

He estimated about 800 to 1000 people had turned out to the event, with about 200 more on the door than ticket sales. 

Mr Kelly said people had travelled from country areas, Melbourne and Gippsland to attend the event.

Bendigo Harness Race Club’s Julie Gardner said the day had gone well, with the exception of an incident at around 5pm which saw two revellers ejected for being in a scuffle.

“The majority were good and well behaved,” she said.

Second-time Oktoberfest attendee Erin Simpson said she was having great fun with friends and enjoyed sampling the different beers.

“It’s much better than last year, much more spread out,” she said.

“There’s less congestion to get to the bar, more varieties of beer and more varieties of food.”

Winner of the Mr Bavaria competition, Gus Booth, said he was “extremely proud” of his new title.

“I had a lot of fun with the support of my friends,” he said.

He said he was part of a larger group who had come up for the event from Melbourne.

“We’ll most definitely be back,” he said.

“Bendigo is one of those unmined gems of Victoria.”