Hundreds of Santa Clarita Valley residents enjoyed Oktoberfest for the first time in Santa Clarita at Old Town Newhall on Saturday.

The family-friendly event included authentic German music by the German Zeitgeist Band, a variety of German beers, Bavarian food, costume contests, chicken dancing, games like “keg bowling” and more.

“It’s the first time Santa Clarita has ever done an Oktoberfest,” said Wendy Albright, one of the event coordinators. “The Old Town Newhall Association decided to put this together and it’s been wildly, overly successful.”

A total of 850 tickets were sold online, and tickets at the door sold out quickly, she said.

The German Zeitgeist Band has been Disney’s Oktoberfest band for three years in a row, and have played Oktoberfests at the Staples Center, Los Angeles Country Club, festivals and churches.

Oktoberfest originated in Germany for the purpose of brewing beer, according to Albright.

“In Germany they only allowed them to brew the beer at certain times, so they had to have events where they drank all the beer so they could be allowed to brew more,” she said.

Event attendees had the chance to enjoy eight different kinds of authentic German beers, as well as four different kinds of bratwurst, pretzels with bavarian beer cheese, strudels and more.