Inside the long white tent on Oregon Avenue, the live polka band was loud and energetic. A purple-haired woman painted children’s faces while their friends giggled at a musical puppet show. But as Marley Powers stepped inside and looked around the Oktoberfest activities, the 8-year-old was distracted by the scents of bratwursts, mashed potatoes and cabbage wafting through the air.

“I saw the puppet show, but all I could think about was eating,” Marley said, settling in at a picnic table with a full plate. “My mind was like a big siren, saying ‘food, food, food.’”

Hundreds of other festivalgoers turned out Saturday for the downtown Bend event, despite cool temperatures and cloudy skies. It was the third year for the celebration, which is organized by the Bend Downtowners Association and features German food, two live bands, children’s events and seasonal beers from local breweries.

At the festival tent’s entrance, Darcy Levage and Stacey Foehrkolb, dressed in short skirts, knee-high socks and low-cut versions of traditional German blouses, took tickets and posed for pictures with festivalgoers. Levage, who also worked at last year’s Oktoberfest, said that the first half of the day had gone very smoothly.

“We’ve had a lot of people come through so far,” Levage said. “And it will probably pick up more with the younger crowd later.”

The Portland-based band Country Dutchmen has played at the Bend Oktoberfest since the event’s first year. After an early afternoon performance, drummer Diane Bome and the band’s self-described “roadie” Marion Cafourek, both dressed in traditional patterned sweaters, black skirts and Alpine hats, took a break to sample the food. Both women had high praise for the food and the festival atmosphere.

“We come here for the chicken schnitzel,” Cafourek joked. “But I really think (Bend’s) Oktoberfest gives you more of a family feel, because it’s smaller than some of the others.”

Sisters resident David Banks came to the event for the first time with his children, Mckenzie, 8, and John, 6. Mckenzie, who takes German classes at school, said she liked the puppet show and polka but could do without some of the traditional German food.

“The food’s pretty good,” she said. “But I don’t really like this purple cabbage.”

Some festivalgoers said they came to get in touch with their German heritage. Siblings Jerry Schuette, of Bend, and Kathy Farnsworth, of Corvallis, said their father was born in Germany and introduced them to the kinds of food and music that were on display at Saturday’s event. And though he’s made multiple visits to the two-week-long Oktoberfest event in Munich, which draws crowds numbering in the millions, Schuette said Bend’s version of the event had plenty of spirit.

“I’ve been sitting here trying to remember the German words to all these songs,” Schuette said. “I know that if my dad was here, he’d be singing along.”