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FAIRFIELD – Fairfield First Friday’s final outdoor Art Walk on Oct. 3 was surprisingly among the warmest of the year, providing a perfect atmosphere to watch wiener dog races and take in live music courtesy of The Roman Cadillacs.

One of the highlights of every Oktoberfest in Fairfield is the Running of the Wieners, a race to determine the fastest dachshund in town. At a makeshift track in the southwest corner of Central Park, people crowded around the starting and finish lines to watch the little dogs run, or stop to play with their competitors.

This year’s winning wiener is named Daisy, owned by Becky and Carl Talas of Fairfield. They said this was Daisy’s third year competing in the race, and her sister Penelope placed second last year.

“She likes to run and get out, and interact with people,” Becky said about Daisy. “We take her to Chautauqua Park and around here all the time. Everybody knows us through her and her sister. Even when she’s barking, I have to tell people that she just wants to play.”

Fairfield First Friday’s Executive Director Marla Brader said 14 dogs competed in Friday’s race, and they were all “adorable.”

“The weather has cooperated with us all season,” Brader said. “We’ve had some great community events, and as far as Oktoberfest, it was fabulous.”

Brader said she can’t say enough about her appreciation of art walk’s sponsors, the vendors that serve customers and the bands that entertain the crowds. She thanked the City of Fairfield’s Park and Rec Department for keeping the park tidy, and the Fairfield Beautification Commission for all the work its members do to beautify the garden nodes, flowers and more.

“With this being our last outdoor event, we hope the ones in the winter will be just as successful and fun,” she said.

The next art walk will be Friday, Nov. 7 with a “gallery hop” theme, meaning that patrons will pick up a passport to be stamped at each location in town. Completed passports can be turned in to win a piece of art from a local artist.

The December art walk on Dec. 5 will feature a kids’ Christmas movie in the Fairfield CoLab at 101 N. Court St. Youngsters can drop off their letters to Santa at the event, too.

Fairfield First Fridays is also putting on its annual Holiday Trade Fair that following weekend of Friday, Dec. 12 and Saturday, Dec. 13 at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center. Vendor registration is now open for that, and vendors can contact Brader at fairfieldartwalk@gmail.com.