Andrew Poje, Natalie Spooner to co-marshal Oktoberfest parade

The Battle of the Blades team of two Olympians, figure skater Andrew Poje and hockey player Natalie Spooner will be co-marshals of the 2019 Oktoberfest parade, Oktoberfest Executive Director Alfred Lowrick announced Thursday.

"Andrew is born in Waterloo ... his father is the president of the Alpine club," Lowrick told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's Craig Norris Thursday morning. 

The pair were slated to compete in the ongoing skate-off series Thursday night on CBC Television.

This will be the first time Poje, from Waterloo, or Spooner have officiated at the Thanksgiving Day event.

"We'd been trying to get Andrew for a number of years," Lowrick said, "but he [and figure skating partner Kaitlyn Weaver] were always on the road at this time."

"But with Battle of the Blades ... he was able to change his training schedule and Natalie agreed." 

Oktoberfest plans

The festival kickoff has moved locations this year. In previous times, the opening ceremonies included the on-stage tapping of a beer keg at city hall. But the public area in front of city hall is not licensed by the province for alcohol consumption, so onlookers could not hoist a celebratory beer along with the dignitaries onstage. 

The new location for the tapping and musical stage is a few blocks east of city hall, at the corner of King and Frederick Streets. 

"We've had the opportunity to partner with a food and beverage partner," Lowrick said, so this year for the first time people attending the ceremonial keg tapping will also be able to partake of the beer offering. 

The task of opening the first keg of the festival will fall this year, for the first time, to Kitchener mayor and longtime council member Berry Vrbanovic.

Environment Canada predicts the weather for the midday tapping ceremony Friday would be clear, sunny and about 17 degrees.