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.

Most of this food is cheap carnival food, but there is one African American team with a 50 foot…read moresmoker cooking wood smoked whole turkey legs. They are not with the other barbecue competitors but in the festival area. The Schertz Park Commission always puts on good festivals, but they need to offer more upscale food trucks. The bands were great as always. My big complaint was the parking area was about 3 football fields away. They kept the closest spots for the bbq competitors. We are the paying customers.

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!

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

TO NOTE: The Wurstfest CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL is not the same event as Wurstfest (aka Oktoberfest) in…read moreNew Braunfels. The CRAFT BEER event is simply held on the same grounds in the spring; whereas, Wurstfest is in the fall. Nor is it to be confused with the Texas Craft Beer Fest held at Fiesta Gardens in Austin annually. Jeez. ;) The 3rd annual 2017 Texas Craft Beer Festival is sponsored by and on the same grounds as Wurstfest, but they are two very different events at two very different times of year. Well, two things in common: beer and sausage. :D The TCBF hosts over 100 craft brews, about a dozen food trucks, live music, a "real" restroom box with running water (HUGE lady bonus), and doesn't over sale tickets so just the right amount of friendly folks to enhance the good libations. For only $35p/p (or $50 at the gates) you get entry, 6 generous sample pours, and of course have option to buy more by cup or bottle. There were Texas craft beers from all across the Lone Star state. Many of which I was already familiar with (Austin in da house), including some of my favorite locals (shout out to Adelbert's and Oasis Texas!). Also suds from San Antonio, Dallas/Ft.Worth Metro, Seguin...the list goes on and on. Overall: Really well organized, all beers well-stocked, staff super nice, reasonable prices for "extras," great grounds ("down by the river!"), and perfect weather. I know where I'll be next April. Cheers to beer y'all! Tips: Cash only event. Bring some sweet moola. Park across the street for 10 bucks. If you don't live in New Braunfels, fork out the dough for a hotel or make some friends. Ha!

Keep the Wurstfest Craft Beer Festival lame. This "festival," if you want to call it that, was…read morepretty sad. Let me start by saying that my gf paid for 2 $100 VIP tickets for us, so most of this review is about the "VIP" experience. You would figure that for that amount, you'd get an excellent experience. Not so much. I'm no hipster but I do love me some craft beer. While all the breweries were all damn good, you would figure that for the price (VIP or Regular), you'd see breweries/beers that you CAN NOT find at HEB/VALERO/Stripes. Uh, yeah, no. There was not one single beer represented that I couldn't find at any convenience/grocery store, even here, in New Braunfels. The only real perk you received was you got to see some dude play acoustic and a mediocre bbq plate- that's it. There's been other festivals that for VIP, you may get additional better perks: extra drink tickets, swag, get to start earlier than general admission, etc. This festival totally robbed you. To make matters worse, I reached out to the organizers via phone, email and social media and never heard a response. I would not only not pay for the VIP experience, I would not even pay for the regular experience. You're better off taking the money you would spend there an head to HEB and create your own six packs, invite your buddies over to your place and have your own festival. You'd get a better experience.

I've been to many wine tasting festivals in different cities, and this one was not worth it. The…read moreprice is $20 for a wine glass and 5 tickets for tastings. Personally 5 tastings is not enough when there are dozens of winery booths there. If the tastings were unlimited, then the $20 ticket price would be very worth it. All wine tasting events I have been to in the past, included unlimited tastings except for this one. Plus this event gets super packed with people, which makes for waiting in long lines at the tasting booths. After we got all of our wine tastings we just went to The Grapevine and The Winery on Gruene to hang out. There wasn't much else to do at the wine festival beside the tastings. We will definitely skip this festival next year.

I am a Gruene, TX fan. So, I am a bit biases- I just love Gruene. However, the coordinators of…read morethis event really could step it up to make this an off the charts must go to event. I have attended several times and sadly the ticket price ratio to the event doesn't equate. So, don't jump on your social media accounts to invite all of your friends and their crew. Share your $$. I will share with you why...ticket prices have increased over the years, but the drink tixs have decreased, as well of the goody bag that had been given in the past. Additionally, there are fewer quality wine and craft vendors. The food trucks are a joke, we waited 25 minutes for our food--there is LIMITED seating for the event. One year we were first in line, once we entered the majority of tables already were full with "regulars" who had bags of food and personal items plus bottles of wine. My husband has a severe health problem and needed to put his legs up and use an umbrella. A cowboy came over to him and ordered him to put his legs down and move his umbrella (he was using it bc of the sun---he had recently had a bone marrow transplant.). The guy wanted his wife to sit down and then called my husband a very profane name. So- guests are pushy and rude. The tents are not ventilated well- be prepared to sweat your butts off. The music is fun- we had to use the Grapevine bathrooms (ladies beware ONE TOLIET). The line is long--- advice bring. Friend with you to guard the male bathroom so that you can use it to cut your time.

Pretty decent event at the Pickrell Park. First of all, the admission was free with plenty of…read moreparking. It was supposed to be held outside, but with the potential for thunderstorms, it was held under a huge covered pavilion. The bands were excellent; there was one playing classic rock, and the others played traditional jazz. there was a beer and wine booth and plenty of food options, which included a cajun truck, a Filipino bbq truck, a philly steak sandwich booth, a sno cone seller, and a guy selling deep fried favorites (fried oreos, mini funnel cakes) alone with Texas cheese fries and a hamburger basket. With all the $30 plus admission fees to get into some of the festivals downtown, sometimes, it's nice to find a little music festival right in your backyard with no charge to get in. Nice.....

Super unorganized and a logistical failure. There were no hand wash or sanitize stations! None of…read morethe staff were helpful in helping us navigate the parking lot or even where to go for the concert venue. They closed down floating early both days with no notice and we didn't get a refund despite buying a float pass. Total BS. The shows were good and there was a large variety of food vendors but that's the only good part.

I am extremely unimpressed with the Customer Service Department. I sent a polite email today asking…read moreabout their refund policy and I received a condescending reply from "Ryan" implying that I should be praying for Joe (the Glass Animals drummer) instead of asking questions about refunds.  Their unsolicited morality check was immensely inspiring and uplifting said no one ever.   Secondly, my sister also emailed today to ask a question about the shuttle service that is posted all over their website/emails/newsletters.  That same "Ryan" responded back to her with the uber-helpful, two-word response, "What shuttle?".  Seriously, Ryan?!  You couldn't be less helpful if you tried.   For the record, his follow up email to her was equally rude and unhelpful. I enjoyed Float Fest so much last year that I upgraded my tickets to VIP this year.  Sadly, "Ryan" and your Customer Service Department has soured me on the entire festival so I will not be attending again.   My unsolicited advice to "Ryan" and your Customer Service Team is "Be kind whenever possible.  It is always possible." (Dalai Lama).

OK, so it's not exactly a popular thing at the moment to conflate "well done!" with "government…read moreagency". But that's exactly what happened last night in San Marcos! As part of the Main Street project to revitalize San Marcos' downtown, an agency of the City of San Marcos worked hand-in-hand with local businesses to promote shopping, nightlife, and good times in the context of a Wine and Wassail Walk. When the revitalization project is complete, the old broken and haphazard sidewalks and dangerous "two-step" gutters which abut the angle parking will be replaced by more tranquil parking islands and uniform walking paths, transforming downtown San Marcos into a destination rather than an avoidance. This event was a desperately needed shot-in-the-arm as downtown San Marcos suffers in the throes of some long-postponed infrastructure improvements. Water and sewer line life-cycle replacments have rendered several blocks of entire city streets a war zone for what seems like eons, but has really only been about a year. For those of you in Austin who can vividly recall the impact of the East 7th corridor revitalization, imagine that running through the heart of your downtown, and you've got the picture. It will all be glorious in the end, but, in the meantime, this event was a great draw and boon for those businesses gutsy and tough enough to see it through. Eighteen businesses participated, including one humidor, a cell phone repair store, a barber shop, a paint-your-own-pottery business, several clothing stores, a few salons, and two museums. Very reasonably priced tickets were sold for the event to benefit Main Street San Marcos and United Way. In return, each participant received a wine glass for sampling, as well as a tour map. Event organizers were careful to alternate starting points as each new registrant signed in, so as to disperse the crowd and not overwhelm the first stop. Complimentary parking was offered, and there were free horse-drawn carriage tours available. Each business, in turn, got to introduce themselves personally to the participants and offered a variety of wine samples. Most businesses also had their own wassail, and nearly all offered nibbles of sweets or cheese. Nearly every business had discounts available for same-night purchases or future services. For a fledgling event, it went splendidly! There was never a hint of overcrowding at any of the stops along the way, and you actually had time to get to know the folks behind the storefronts. I was able to get reacquainted with one of the true gems in downtown San Marcos (Paper Bear) and my date for the event eventually had to drag me out of the store (post purchase, of course). More on Paper Bear in a separate review. Best of all, I got my very first woozie! Don't know what a "woozie" is? Well, I guess you'll just have to attend next year and find out for yourself!

I'm surprised that you can review this, but I'm going for it! :D…read more I randomly found an ad for this event while browsing online and decided to check it out. I purchased tickets for my husband and I and got quite a bit of people from work to come to. The check in process for everyone except for me was easy. I'm glad I printed my receipt because they didn't have me or my husband on the list. However! The night was young and so are we :D The event was organized well and went off perfectly. The courthouse was where you checked in, got your wine glass, and a wine koozie. The courthouse was also the first stop on the route. I believe there were 14 business that participated and it was so fun! The businesses all did a great job of setting out food, and were so friendly when you came in. The wine was good, the wassail was great, and different places even had other drinks etc. I have lived in San Marvelous for almost 6 years and this is the MOST FUN EVENT I have been to! I loved how friendly everyone was and the great atmosphere that was going on. There was also a carriage ride if you wanted to partake. My husband and I are lucky enough to live close to downtown so we walked and didn't have to worry about parking. I think though that parking was adequate as I know the justice center was an option to park at. I tell EVERYONE how much fun this event was, and I'm so excited that they are going to be having a Art & Wine Walk on March 7th. I hope it will be just as awesome as this one was. I also would like to state that this walk helped me get inside of businesses that I haven't had the time to stop into and because of this event, I now have found the BEST HAIRDRESSER and Salon in San Marcos. :D I hope this event will be a yearly thing as my husband and I will continue to go.