October is still a ways out, but the anticipation for the Prairie du Chien Oktoberfest has already begun.

Before the steins are filled and the brats are cooked, the Oktoberfest Committee starts their season by declaring a winner for the annual button design contest. Visitors purchase buttons featuring the winning artwork for admittance into the event on St. Feriole Island on Saturday, Oct. 17.

The committee chose a design by Peyton Martins as this year’s winner. Martins is a sixth-grade student at MFL Mar-Mac in McGregor, Iowa.

“I took three different photos and looked up the theme for it,” said Martins when asked about how she came up with her design.

“With Oktoberfest, what we’re trying to do is celebrate our German heritage... So, that’s what we’re trying to do. The button that we chose was something that we felt depicted what Oktoberfest meant,” said Mike Ulrich, advisor to the Oktoberfest Committee.

Martins won a gift basket and will be featured at Oktoberfest events throughout the week of the event, including the parade that will kick off the Saturday event.

Ulrich said there were more than 150 designs submitted this year—the most ever. “We had some really great ones, and this is the way that we start off the Oktoberfest season.”

The top 10 button designs will be displayed at MFL Mar-Mac before Oktoberfest and at the event grounds during the festivities.

Buttons can be purchased at various places in Prairie du Chien. According to Ulrich, approximately 3,000 buttons were made for this year’s event.

The Prairie du Chien Oktoberfest will take place during the third weekend this October, with different events taking place during the week.