Torre del Mar Readies Promenade for Two-Day Coastal Oktoberfest Festivities Bavarian gastronomy, live brass music, and artisanal brewing take over Torre del Mar's beachfront esplanade next weekend as the eastern coast launches autumn festivals. Beer Steins Replace Beach Towels on the Promenade Torre del Mar swaps sangria for steins next weekend when its annual Oktoberfest takes over the seafront on 10 and 11 October. The two-day event has become a fixture on the Axarquía's autumn calendar, drawing in Bavarian food stalls, oompah bands and long communal tables to a stretch of coast more usually associated with chiringuitos and sunbathers. For a town that empties out once the last sunbed is folded away in September, it marks one of the more reliable attempts to keep visitors and spending flowing into October. Why Torre del Mar, Why Oktoberfest Torre del Mar sits within the municipality of Vélez-Málaga, the administrative hub of the Axarquía region, and has spent the past decade building a reputation beyond its three-kilometre beach. The town's wide, pedestrianised promenade — closed to traffic along much of its length — makes it a natural venue for open-air events that would be impossible to stage in the tighter lanes of Nerja or the hillside streets further inland. The German theme is not an accident of marketing. The Costa del Sol Oriental has a long-established German and Scandinavian resident population, particularly around Rincón de la Victoria, Torre del Mar itself and up towards Nerja, and organisers have built the festival around that demographic rather than importing it wholesale for tourists. Local hospitality venues have been drafted in to produce the bratwurst, schnitzel and pretzels themselves, working alongside importers who bring in the Bavarian wheat beers that headline the drinks list. It gives the event a degree of authenticity that simple themed club nights rarely manage. What's Actually On The format follows the familiar beer-hall template: long shared tables, a central stage, and stalls ringed around the pedestrianised squares near the promenade rather than on the sand itself. Live music runs across both afternoons and evenings, with German oompah ensembles trading sets with acoustic acts aimed at a broader international crowd. Families are catered for too, with children's entertainment scheduled into the earlier afternoon slots — a deliberate move to keep the event accessible before the evening crowd, and the beer, takes over. It is, in effect, a two-tier festival: daytime for residents bringing children and grandparents, evening for the drinking and live-music crowd. Anyone planning to attend with young children would do well to arrive before the sun goes down. An Off-Season Lifeline for Local Trade The economics behind the festival matter as much as the folk music. Once the summer season winds down, restaurants, bars and shops along the Axarquía coast face a steep drop in footfall, and October has traditionally been one of the quieter months before the Christmas lights go up. Local restaurant associations in Vélez-Málaga have reported that table reservations and terrace trade over the Oktoberfest weekend can rival the busiest weeks of summer, which explains why municipal authorities keep backing the event year after year. It is a pattern repeated across the Costa del Sol: towns building themed weekends — wine fairs, gastronomic festivals, Christmas markets — specifically to bridge the gap between beach season and the holiday period. For homeowners and long-term residents, these events also serve a quieter function, giving neighbourhoods a reason to gather once the tourist crowds thin out and reminding second-home owners why they bought on this stretch of coast in the first place. Getting There and Getting In Entry to the festival zone is free, with vendors handling food and drink sales individually rather than through a central ticketing system. The event runs from midday until midnight on Saturday 10 October, and from midday into the late evening on Sunday 11 October. Parking will be signposted around the fairground area and along the western esplanade, though spaces are likely to fill quickly given the scale of the crowds the festival typically pulls in. Town hall transport officers are encouraging visitors travelling from Nerja, Caleta de Vélez and Málaga itself to use the intercity coastal bus network instead, which will run its standard weekend timetable with stops close to the promenade. For anyone without a car, or simply keen to avoid the search for parking, the bus remains the simplest way in and out.