Wurstfest Craft Beer Festival

Loved it! Good times, and just OK shopping. Had much beer and bought many beer coupons. Woke up this afternoon with 16 left. Anyone want to buy them?? .75 cents a coupon. I’ll meet you out front

Damnit Wurstfest. I was all prepared to be over it… but you snuck your way into my heart again. It was Friday. It was kind of rainy. I’d had a long long week and I was not at all excited about the long ass drive to NB. But my boyfriend wanted to go and meet some friends so like a good GF, I sucked it up, downed a 5 hour energy and put on a dirndl.
And you know what? It was super fun. I don’t really love beer and I certainly don’t need to be shoving potatoes and sausage down my gullet, but you can do all of that or none of that and still feel like you’re part of something special. My favorite part is seeing the opas and omas with their pins from each year. They wander around, strutting like peacocks with all that flare. «I’ve been here since the beginning!» they brag as they school the newbies and reunite with old friends.
There are a million things to eat — most of them artery-​clogging awesome — put on by local organizations like the high school band or the rotary club. There are drunken and kind of annoying early 20-​somethings trying and failing to coordinate their giant group. There are people wearing the full getup and others just nodding to the tradition of the zany hat. There are polka bands covering guns n roses and lady gaga. There is dancing and there are beer halls and there are pitchers on top of pitchers.
Some pro-​tips:
+ There are tons of groups in Austin that organize buses. That is your best bet. Try not to set yourself up for an overnight stay or a long über ride when you realize the beer fairy got you.
+ Take cash. This is not a card kind of place.
+ Weird hats, leiderhosen, dirndles are all abundant. Bust one out!
+ If you have friends that have gone before, see if they had any leftover beer tickets
+ Wear comfy shoes!
+ Look at the musical lineup. Chances are you won’t know the bands but if there’s something you’d like to see, get in early.
+ Explore the grounds. The food tent and the big beer hall are only part of the show.
+ When leaving, use waze or google maps to avoid the inevitable insane traffic.

This was a sold out event for this 1^st year Wurstfest Craft beer Festival and hopefully it becomes an annual event. Held on the Wurstfest grounds this festival featured 40 craft beers on tap, 80 craft beer tasting (6 tickets that you are given as part of the admission for 3 ounce tastings). There’s plenty of beer and a great variety to satisfy any beer connisoure. Lobo, shiner, freetail, No Label, twisted X, Goliad, Real Ale, Perdenales, and the list goes on. Food trucks included Cheesy Jane’s, Rust, Schnitzels & Giggles, a seafood truck, and a festival isn’t complete unless there’s a funnel cake truck. The entertainment was great! Two Tons of Steel, Tom Gillam’s Kosmic Messengers with headliners the Texas Tornados! Tickets for general admission are the way to go. If you pay for VIP, only 300 tickets are sold, it’s $ 50 more, you get to come in 1 hour early, stay in the air conditioned Stelzenhaus, and you get cheese & sausage plates, pulled pork sliders & chips„ entertainment (a band that general admission doesn’t get to see) as well as a VIP craft beer booth. I found sitting at the picnic style benches just fine and when the music started I could be right there to watch the band. VIP members don’t get any special treatment for seating when it comes to the music if they want to be in the ground. They can watch from Stelzenhaus and this gives them a view from 2^nd story. Hope the Wurstfest Association makes this an annual event, well worth going to.