three macaroni cheese balls with sauce

MACTOBERFEST

WHERE

RESTAURANT ROW

300 Block East Hopkins Ave.

WHEN

Saturday, September 6, 2025

1:00pm – 3:00pm

two people holding out their cups of macaroni and cheese with smiles on their faces

2025 Photos

2025 Winners:

Judges’ Favorite - Meat & Cheese
Crowd Favorite - PARC Aspen

2024 Winners:

Judges’ Favorite - West End Social
Crowd Favorite - Hominy Southern Kitchen

2023 Winners:

Judges’ Favorite - Hominy Southern Kitchen
Crowd Favorite - PARC Aspen

Mactoberfest is becoming one of the most anticipated events of the Summer.

This event is free and open to all! Come try local restaurants’ Macaroni and Cheese dishes as they battle it out to win the coveted best Mac and Cheese trophy, voted on by you.

Why is Mactoberfest in September?
When we added beer to the Mac & Cheese Festival in 2023, we took inspiration from Munich’s famous Oktoberfest which, fun fact, traditionally starts in September. We just swapped pretzels for pasta and made it our own. 🧀🍺

This year’s Mactoberfest will be held on Saturday, September 6th on Hopkins Avenue, and we’re turning up the fun with beer for sale by our local women’s hockey team, The Mother Puckers, live music, and plenty of cheesy competition. Two winners will be crowned, Judges’ Favorite and Crowd Favorite. Don’t miss this great community event that you can participate in!

The Crowd Favorite Winner will be determined by the number of votes received at our blind voting table. Every mac & cheese enthusiast will get the chance to taste, then cast their vote for their favorite. Once the event wraps up, we’ll tally the votes and crown the winner!

This year, a panel of judges will crown the Judges’ Favorite at Mactoberfest!
Our all-star tasting team includes:

  • Mactoberfest veteran and cheese connoisseur, Laura Werlin (aka “The Cheese Lady”)

  • Jake Andersen, weighing in on his first official order of business as Aspen’s new Fire Chief

  • Lyla Osbourne, a 14-year-old Aspen High School freshman and, by all accounts, our toughest critic yet

This year’s Competitors:

Elk Camp Restaurant
Bear Den
Meat & Cheese
Mod’s Thai House
NOAM Caterer
PARC Aspen
Sodexo @ Colorado Mountain College
Steakhouse No. 316
Sway Thai
The Tavern Snowmass
ZigZag