KC Bier Co.’s Oktoberfest & Other Weekend Possibilities

Raise a stein or two this weekend at Kansas City Bier Company on Saturday and Sunday. Oktoberfest returns with dancing, a stein holding competition, a lederhosen competition, and the tapping of a Festbier.

Make it an Oktoberfest weekend. The Lee’s Summit Oktoberfest is today (5 to 11 p.m.) and tomorrow (10 a.m. to 11 p.m.), while the carnival attached to the festival will run through Sunday. There’s a grape stomp, home brews, a Weiner dog race, and plenty of schnitzel. Lederhosen are optional.

What’s the point of living in the Midwest if you can’t attend a rodeo? The PCRA Rodeo is tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Hale Arena (1701 American Royal Court). The doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $19.

Get a historical peek into the world of cowboys at the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm Historic Site’s Wild West Days on Saturday and Sunday. There are stagecoach rides, re-enactors, alpacas, and cookstove demonstrations. When you get parched, grab a cup of Doc’s Root Beer. Tickets are $5 (or you can get a family pack of five tickets for $20).

Two words: donut pop-up. Julia Marie’s Doughnuts is hosting a pop-up from 9 to 11 a.m. at 546 Olive Street. They’re asking for donations for the Pendleton Heights Neighborhood Association.

Even if you’re not looking for the right piece to hang in your living room, the Plaza Art Fair is worth a stroll because of the spread. The fair runs tonight through Sunday and features more than two dozen restaurant booths. Grab a crab cake sandwich from McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood, lobster tacos from Zocalo, or burnt end mac & cheese from Gram & Dun.

Fall takes center stage at the Overland Park Fall Festival on Saturday at Santa Fe Commons Park (8045 Santa Fe Drive, Overland Park, Kansas). The farmer’s market opens at 6:30 a.m., while the Arts and Craft Fair opens at 9 a.m. There’s live music, a classic car show, and food trucks for when you get hungry.

Call it the ‘Futures Game,’ of the local brewery scene. The third annual High Plains Brewhoff is Saturday from 2 to 7 p.m. in downtown Overland Park. Tickets are free for the homebrew competition and available at the festival’s sponsor Brew Lab (8004 Foster Street, Overland Park, Kansas), but you can pre-purchase a tasting glass for $20, which gets you to the front of the line.

— Jonathan Bender writes about food trends and is the author of “Cookies & Beer” and “Stock, Broth & Bowl.” Follow him on Twitter @jonathanbender.