Clarktoberfest 2026 in Clarkdale: Your October 3 Guide

How many towns of Clarkdale's size run two Oktoberfests at once, and how often can you get to both on the same day? Verde Canyon Railroad's Ales on Rails has been pouring at the depot since September 13. Clarktoberfest closes two blocks of Main Street for one afternoon only, on Saturday, October 3. For most of the season the two don't fit together well. On October 3 they do, and that comes down to a train departure time and a building at 911 Main Street that reopened in July.

The 9:30 Train Is What Makes the Day Work

Ales on Rails runs September 13 through October 31, 2026, and the railroad uses two schedules for it. On most dates the trains leave at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. On the five October Saturdays, the 1 p.m. train is replaced by a 9:30 a.m. departure, and the 3:30 p.m. train stays.

The ride takes four hours. A 9:30 a.m. departure brings you back to the depot around 1:30 p.m. Clarktoberfest starts at noon and runs until 6 p.m., so the morning rider still gets about four and a half hours of the street festival. The 3:30 p.m. train gets back after the festival has ended, so on October 3 the late train is the one that keeps you from attending both.

Tickets are $139 per person and include a champagne or sparkling cider toast at boarding. Beer and lunch are sold separately at the depot. For the 9:30 train, the Copper Spike Café opens for breakfast at 8 a.m., and so does the outdoor bar under the shaded pavilion. If you want a sandwich before boarding, plan to get there early. The depot is at 300 N. Broadway. The railroad's directions send drivers from the Main Street and North Broadway intersection across the one-lane bridge to the depot lot, a short drive from the festival blocks.

One brewery connects the two events. Clarkdale's Smelter Town Brewery is in the 2026 Ales on Rails brewery lineup and also pours at Clarktoberfest, so you can drink the same local beer in the canyon in the morning and on Main Street in the afternoon.

Two Blocks, Closed at Noon

The 12th annual Clarktoberfest is free. It runs on Main Street between 9th and 11th streets and into Clarkdale Town Park. The Clarkdale Downtown Business Alliance organizes it with the Clarkdale Foundation, and the proceeds go to the Foundation. Main Street is closed between 9th and 11th for the day. Parking is spread around downtown, and signs point drivers to it. The festival FAQ doesn't mention a shuttle.

The stage is on the north side of the street at 10th and Main. The festival site lists Sister & The Sun and Elvin Killerbee Band as performers. The site doesn't date its lineup pages, so check the band and vendor lists with the organizers before you plan around one act. The drinks list names OHSO Brewery, Belfry Brewery, Huss Brewing, Lumberyard Brewing, Smelter Town Brewery, Canyon Distributing, Tumbleweed Winery and Alcantara Winery. Listed food trucks include Dog Town USA, Elote, Cheeky Kiwi, Sno-To-Go, Popstar Kettlecorn, Sinful Sodas and Dellepiane.

Cornhole sign-up starts at noon and play starts at 1 p.m. The airmail pot starts at $400. This year adds a stein-holding contest. The schedule works out neatly for a 9:30 a.m. train rider. You miss cornhole sign-up, but you're back on Main Street in time to watch the bracket and take a turn holding a stein.

The 2026 sponsor list shows how local the event is. It includes the 10/12 Lounge, Blazin M'/Clarkdale Kayak Company, Freeport McMoRan, Highlander Laundromat and Mountain Gate, listed as Plateau Partners.

What's Different on the 900 Block This Year

In past years, the festival blocks didn't have an anchor that stayed open after the beer garden closed. The Verde Independent's July story on The Newstand opened with a line that sums up what downtown had been missing:

"It's been a while since there have been two dinner spots in town. Or, when it's been tough to find a parking spot on Main Street."

The Newstand reopened at 911 Main Street on Monday, July 20, 2026. Plans to revive the former Newstand bar were first announced in 2022. The business dates its location to 1912. Local reporting describes the earlier business there as a historic poolroom and bar. The new version has three levels, with a rooftop bar and billiards. It serves pizza, sandwiches and rotating dishes made with local ingredients, and local coverage also mentions salads and charcuterie.

A May report named Connor Barrett as one of the owners, working with the Tavasci family and Nicholas Perez. The July opening coverage shows Barrett managing the room and on the roof with the view customers now get.

October 3 is The Newstand's first Clarktoberfest since reopening, and the building is in the 900 block of Main, the stretch the town closes for the festival. That gives the festival something it didn't have before. When the trucks pack up at 6 p.m., there's still a kitchen and a rooftop on the block.

The Block, Walked From the Museum Up

If you start at the south end of downtown and walk toward Town Park, these are the stops in address order:

1. Arizona Copper Art Museum, 849 Main Street. Its ticketing site lists hours of 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, so a morning train rider who gets back around 1:30 p.m. has a window of about three hours to visit the museum during the festival. It closes 90 minutes before the street does.
2. Dream West Caboose, 900 Main Street. Ice cream, crepes, sandwiches and cold brew, open Thursday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday falls in that window.
3. 10/12 Lounge, 910 Main Street. Open daily from 10 a.m. to midnight. Big Daddy D & The Dynamites play from 2 to 6 p.m. on 10/3, which overlaps the festival's main stage hours.
4. The Newstand, 911 Main Street. Rooftop, pizza and billiards, almost directly across the address numbers from the Lounge.
5. Smelter Town Brewery, 921 Main Street, Suite A. The brewery that pours at both Oktoberfests. Its taproom is open 2 to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
6. Clarkdale Town Park, 1001 Main Street. The festival's other end. The park also hosted this year's Concerts in the Park series, which closed September 19 with Tommy Rocks the Beatles.

Live music runs in two places at once on October 3. The festival stage is at 10th and Main, and the Lounge has its own act from 2 to 6 p.m. They share a block and the same four hours.

After 6 p.m., and the Four Saturdays After That

On festival night, Smelter Town stays open until 9 p.m. on Saturdays, three hours after the street closes. The Newstand's full weekly hours weren't posted in a form we could confirm. Its online ordering page showed an 11 a.m. opening, and local reporting says it's closed Wednesdays. Check before you count on a late table. The 10/12 Lounge is open until midnight.

The October Saturday train schedule continues after the festival. The 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. departures run again on October 10, 17, 24 and 31, and Ales on Rails ends on the 31st. On those Saturdays, a morning rider gets back around midday, and downtown is open as usual. The Caboose opens at 11 a.m. and Smelter Town at 2 p.m. If your plans move to a weekday, keep the closures in mind. Smelter Town is closed Tuesdays and The Newstand is closed Wednesdays, so a midweek day in Clarkdale has a different set of stops.

The railroad's Saturday mornings don't end with Ales on Rails. Verde Canyon Railroad brought Saturday morning rides back on March 7, 2026, and plans to run them every Saturday through the end of the year, with departure times that change by season.

For October 3, the plan that fits both events is the 9:30 a.m. train, then the two closed blocks from about 1:30 to 6 p.m., then dinner at 911 Main.

Clarkdale's October calendar comes down to a train schedule, a two-block street closure and a reopened 1912 address. It's a good example of the small, practical details that shape how a Verde Valley town works week to week. If you own a vacation rental near downtown Clarkdale, or you're comparing Verde Valley towns for a second home, Martin de Bókay can go through what the town's event calendar and its restaurant and bar hours mean for your property. Schedule your Sedona investment consult.