Held in the small town of Hallettsville, TX, the Kolache Fest is a cool and tasty way to have a…read more fun day. There's lots to see and hear as well as many delicious things to eat! The Kolache Fest is held at the Knight of Columbus Hall in Hallettsville., TX. It consists of games, arts and crafts booths, a classic car show, live polka music, dancing, a BBQ judging, food demos, a Biergarten and of course kolaches. The kolaches are provided by Kountry Bakery. As we drove past the restaurant itself we noticed how packed it was. After trying their kolaches at the festival, we can understand why it was so crowded. The kolaches are great. We wanted to try them all. Kolaches are sold at the festival by the half dozens and available in fruit varieties, cream cheese and as they call them, "pig" (sausage) with and without cheese and jalapeño. The events themselves are held at various times and offer something for everyone. Besides the above listed events there are many more - too many to list! We especially liked the food demos and the crocodile show as well as the classic cars. The live polka music and bands were talented and put on a lively, toe tapping show. Food items for sale are homemade by some very good bakers and benefit some well deserving organizations. Homemade sweets make any event that much better. There is lots of seating in a covered pavilion with huge ceiling fans that give relief from some of the heat. Hallettsville is a small town and this event has a big turnout so arriving early is the best way to ensure good parking although the lot is large. A trivia bit we learned is that it is the only town in the world with the name Hallettsville. It has the friendly, welcoming, small town type warmth that isn't always found within they city. If you like good food and friendly festivities the Kolache Fest is something you'll enjoy.

This is a great family event to go to. The kolaches are amazing and you can buy them individually…read moreor by the half dozen. They also have the "pigs" (sausage stuffed kolaches). They have plenty of fun activities for kids of all ages and several bands throughout the day on 2 different stages inside with music to dance to. They have great reasonably priced food of all kind; even a 9 foot pizza. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Kolache Fest!!

Check it out, the Second Annual Smithville Music Festival at Beautiful Vernon Richards Riverbend…read morePark This year featuring: Jimmie Vaughan T-Bird and the Breaks The Jones Family Singers George Ducas Woody Russell Deadman The Black Charles Thibodeaux and the Austin Cajun Aces Blue Valley The Austin Family Jewels LeeAnn Atherton Whew! - music all day on two stages plus a Chili Cookoff, Horseshoe Tournament, 42 Dominoes Tournament, Kiddie Korner, Arts and Crafts Vendors, Food Vendors and strolling entertainers. A day jam packed with fun for the whole family. And get this, tickets are only $20.00 in advance at Front Gate Tickets. Last year's festival was great. Great music, great venue and great vibe. Listening under a canopy of old oak trees next to the Colorado river. There were also some major jammin' going on at the campgrounds after the show - all night from what I heard (I left around 3 am). Did I mention there is camping. Also some nice B&Bs in town. Don't miss this one - it only comes around once a year..

Wonderful diversity of styles and great talent at the 2013 event. Would go again in a drum beat!…read more#music #sounds #intense

We only got to attend two of the four nights this year, but we had a really good time. ZZ Top was…read morethe headliner for Saturday night, so there was quite a crowd, I heard estimates of 18,000, which is a lot of people for this fair. They set up a stage at the edge of the fairgrounds and it actually worked really well. I think they learned a lesson last year when the crowds were too large for their usual stage for the Merle Haggard concert. Kudos for recognizing the problem and creating a solution. On Sunday night, Earl Thomas Conley put on a great show. He sang his hits and a few not so well known songs, for a good mix of his music. Friday night was BJ Thomas and the Triumphs. Word is they were really good as well. The fair continues to be a lot of fun. We go every year and always have a lot of fun. A season pass was only $35 and you get 4 nights of entertainment included. If you enjoy county fairs, put this one on your calendar for next Labor Day.

I have been coming to this fair for 40+ years. Growing up in this little town of Lagrange it was a…read morehighlight of the year to go to the fair. Every year they've gotten better and better ask and this year they had ZZ Top. Really outdid themselves. We went to the concert for a little while but we left early because we knew that the traffic could be horrible. I heard some stories about it being bad but what do people expect this many people in a small town come on. They also had Earl Thomas Conley on Sunday night which was great it wasn't too many people and you can really enjoy it. I love the fair and always will go back.

I went to this festival on Sunday. They have set up a playground for the kids with rides. I am not…read moresure if it is permanent or just there for the festival. They had different events through out the day including a car show. I enjoyed watching the pitting seeds contest the most There is music and plenty of vendors which I wished I ate from one of the vendors instead of Luling bbq

The best watermelons in Texas and a friendly town I go here…read moreevery chance I get and Alan danziger who was driving the van in the Texas chainsaw Massacre has a bed and breakfast there

My first and last Wassailfest. They tried to duplicate the Christmas Market atmosphere in Europe…read more Very difficult to do for one 3 hour (6-9PM) block of time on a single evening. Instead it was just a mass of people milling around downtown New Braunfels. Very long lines for mini sized paper cups of wassail. Just a mess.

Wonderful time! Great feeling of community and small town warmth. New to this beautiful town and…read moreso happy we made the move!

4 years ago when I was in Austin for my grandson's High School graduation my daughter suggested we…read morego to the Blanco Lavender Festival since she knows I love lavender, the color and the fragrance. A group of us went including two children and 5 adults. We all had a great time. There were lots of Booths to look at selling lots of products. My daughter and I both bought products from a man selling lotions and soaps made from goat milk in 2013 and were disappointed when we went back in 2017 and he was nowhere to be found, either physically or online. We had both hoped to buy more to replace what we had used up. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I came back in June of 2017 for my grandson's college graduation and asked my daughter if she would like to go to the Lavender Festival again. She said yes because she hadn't been since the last time I was in town so the two of us went and as before mentioned were disappointed not to find the goat milk guy. I was also keeping an eye out for the booth of Imagine Lavender Farm which had been there four years ago but never did find any sign of them this trip. I even asked at the information booth and neither name came up on their list of participators. I found a t-shirt for the festival last trip that was on sale because it was a shirt from a previous year but did not find anything like that this time. It would have been fun to buy a lavender t-shirt at the Lavender Festival if they had had one I liked for a good price. I usually try to go through the Lavender Festival twice, the first time quickly and the second time more slowly. I might have bought some lavender lotion or other products from a different vendor since the one I was looking for was not there but my daughter was getting hot, and it certainly was an extremely hot day, so I didn't want to ask her if we could take the time for me to go through again. We had both hoped to find lavender ice cream but did not see any at this year's Festival either. There was lavender lemonade but an extremely long line so we didn't end up getting any. I did get 3 or 4 things when I had the opportunity including some lavender cuticle oil, a jar of spice and s small bag of lavender coffee. If I come back to town in 4 years I'll probably want to come to it again in the hopes that I would find new booths to make up for the old favorites being gone.

Another great year at The Lavender Festival a bit warm so make sure you drink liquids. Lots of…read morefolks on opening day at the festival so vendors seemed busy. Several new booths. One was a guy who makes cigar box guitars very cool and another who makes hiking staffs or walking sticks. Of course lots and lots of Lavender booths to shop for soaps, lotion, sachets, bug spray and more...

The new location was fabulous. Lots of parking. Relocating is always a challenge but I hope they…read morecontinue here for a while

Try to go every year. This year I wasn't able to stay too long, but I feel it was smaller? Great…read morevenders and a lot of people with their hand crafted goods. I love seeing people's art and their creativity. Did have a lot of people handing out samples and reusable bags, flyers, all the things to draw people to them. It was a good time. Funnel cake and music, and people watching. Everything a festival is. Good jobs guys

My kids went & spent $15 a plate for pure 'garbage'. Guy was down to bottom of it & no corn no…read morepotatoes to be found. Once they sat down they realized it was all just cold trash that sinks to very bottom. What a huge letdown.

Wow! This event was so disappointing. I arrived with a friend on Saturday 6:30 pm. First of all, we…read moretook an Uber and the teenage parking nazis wouldn't let my driver through. We had to get out at the Common St. entrance and walk about 400 yards to the ticket booth. I just had knee surgery and a couple back procedures so this was literally a pain! Tickets were $25 each. Are you kidding?! I'm not sure why I paid, but I guess I wanted to make the best of it. Once inside the grounds, which was like a total of 5 acres, we immediately noticed there were not a lot of folks there. We decided to walk around and came to the carnival ride area. There were some rides not operating and the two that were looked like they had been used since the 1920's. It's amazing what superglue and duct tape can hold together. Then there was the food.........! The crawfish I saw people eating looked unimpressive so I went with a $9 bowl of mushy, flavorless jambalaya. After my mouth felt as if I had been licking sawdust, I was thirsty. I passed on the $5 canned beer and instead bought an $8 strawberry lemonade. I threw that sour, overpriced trash in the garbage after I forced half of it down. After wasting 30 minutes of my life that I'd never get back we decided to leave. My advice to anyone considering this so called "festival" is to instead go find a nice restaurant patio somewhere and enjoy a cocktail and a decent meal.

Wurstfest is one of my favorite festivals to attend each year! The food, drinks and entertainment…read moreare always awesome. Pro tip- go on a week night because it's free entry. Weekends require purchased tickets. There's a little something for everyone, food galore, adult beverages, shopping, live music, a carnival, indoor and outdoor seating, etc. Do yourself a favor and get a pork chop on a stick. It's the most popular food item- you can tell by the constant line of people at their booth. My one disappointment is that beer prices continually rise every year. There was a point in time that you could get a domestic beer pitcher for $15-17, now a pitcher (import) is over $30! Although I wish the prices would decline, I know that I'm going to return each year because I always have the best time!

Quick historical tidbit: Of all the settlers that came to…read moreTexas only the German Immigrants did not break treaties with Indians. Which became the basis in the creation of New Braunfels. Why did I add this? Well, as a newbie to Wurstfest the friendliness by the community is abundant. I have been meaning to do it for years but that day never came, until now. I am not a fan of crowds even though I'm front and center for Fiesta San Antonio. In Texas we love to party. Which brings me back to my historical tidbit. All immigrants, settlers that have come(and still do) from other countries have contributed to the genesis of our state. Be it by culture, food and music. Wurstfest is a reaffirmation of the influence German Immigrants has had in the creation of a Texas identity. An event that unabashedly celebrates both sausage and beer, which is a match made in heaven. Firstly, I implore you to buy tickets online. It's five bucks lesser and will alleviate potential entrance headaches. As I get older I find myself opting to go early or when an event opens. If you're an introvert like as me I highly recommend this. Wurstfest offers a shuttle service that is minutes away. I encourage you to utilize this. For about ten bucks you park in a separate area away from the event. The shuttle buses run every few minutes. And they run extremely efficiently. When I arrived here I was struck by how vast it is. I have never been to the October Fest in Germany. But as big as Texas Events are this one is really on an epic scale. You can sense what this event means to this community. Before you even enter you see masses of men wearing Alpine Hats and lederhosen. And the women rocking dirndl dresses. Entering and walking on the grounds you are surrounded by beer, food and music. Pretzels. Schnitzel. Bratwurst. Sauerkraut. In all directions there are beer stations everywhere. You can buy beer by the cup, plastic stein or the pitcher. There is a small list of beers on tap: Spoetzl Brewery and Hofbrau, from Germany. Brace yourself for the lines. You won't find a Hazy IPA, Trappist ALE nor any other style of beer for that matter. All beer and food is meant to aggrandize German culture, heritage and traditions. Thus it is mainly German styles. In addition there are pockets of small and large areas with picnic style seating and music. It is a communal affair. In Wursthalle Oompah Bands are playing with festivalgoers steins hoisted in the air, in unison with the music. The dance floor is filled with couples and that odd single dude doing the "Chicken Dance." For a second I closed my eyes and could hear the similarities between Mexican and Conjunto music. Thus the German Culture is monumental. In contrast in San Antonio when events where food and drinks collide there is a rowdy crowd. It often leads to grandstanding or hot-headed patrons. All throughout the day everyone was extremely friendly. It is a party vibe but my summation is that festivalgoers want to have a good time without incident. People have commented on how expensive this event is. Food items are reasonably priced but the beer is where the brunt of your money will go to. Pitchers were $40 bucks and I saw people walking around with three or more empty vessels. My suggestion is to stick with the German beers. They go perfectly with the food and are more full bodied. Especially with the brezel wurst I had. I know this used to be a ticketed event for everything here. Food and beer are by credit or debit card only. Before I do a terrible, awkward and awful interpretation of a "Chicken Dance" to cap this review let me add this. The Wurstfest is an awesome event that celebrates German Heritage. It fits in with the historical narrative that all immigrants contribute and still continue to our mosaic. If you've never gone before I highly recommend it. Next year I'm going to rock an Alpine Hat but I'm leaving the lederhosen home.

We visited the Founder's Day Parade this year for the first time and it was so much fun! The…read morevendors only take cash, so you do have to have cash with you but everyone was so nice and the food stands all had great food. The carnival was a blast as well! We had so much fun riding rides and enjoying the atmosphere. This only happens once a year but it's worth saving the date for each year, without a doubt.

I've compiled a list of some things that are imperative for a local celebration:…read more Fried Oreos Boiled Crawfish Parade Beer Roasted Corn Live Music Sunscreen (which I didn't have this weekend) Kid leash Carnival BBQ Cook off Alka-Seltzer An average of 25,000 people head just west of Austin to celebrate all that is Dripping Springs, Texas. My highlights included sampling my first ever Pork Bomb. It pays to know everybody in the cook off sampling everything including salsa, brisket, chicken, chili, and the above mentioned pork log wrapped in bacon and then smothered in Jack Daniels BBQ sauce. See my last entry for my essentials list. Hope to get all my Yelp friends out next April!