Wurstfest

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Wurstfest, right there in New Braunfels, Comal County. Now, every great story has a beginning, and this one starts with a veterinarian. That's right — a man whose professional life was devoted to the health of animals looked out over a city with nineteen commercial sausage-making businesses and said, you know what this town needs?

A festival. Dr. E.

A. Grist, veterinarian and city meat inspector in New Braunfels, conceived the notion of a sausage festival in 1961. You can say a lot of things about that man's imagination, but you cannot say it lacked a certain audacity.

And to be fair to Dr. Grist, the raw material was already there. Sausage making had been a local German tradition passed down through generations since the very founding of New Braunfels.

So the idea wasn't out of nowhere — it was grown from roots that ran deep in this soil. The early festival spread itself around town. The National Guard Armory, Landa Park, Main Plaza — Wurstfest was a wandering celebration in those first years, trying on different venues like a man trying on boots.

Then in 1967, it found its home. And what a home it is. The site had history long before anyone thought to hang a string of lights over it.

Back in 1850, a man named William H. Meriwether developed this industrial ground, diverting the Comal River itself to create a millrace to run his grain mills. Then in 1860, Joseph Landa started Landa Industries right here at this same location — a place that would later become Dittlinger Mills.

Several buildings from that whole industrial era are still standing, and today they're put to use for the festival. There's something fitting about that, a site that spent over a century grinding grain now dedicated to celebrating what you do with it. A year after moving to the new grounds, in 1968, the celebration expanded to ten days.

Ten days of sausage, song, and the spring-fed Comal River rolling along just outside. The whole operation is run by the Wurstfest Association of New Braunfels, a non-profit corporation with a mission to promote the economy through tourism and preserve the community's German heritage. It takes more than a hundred and fifty Association members, plus volunteers and temporary employees, to keep the thing running.

Local clubs and organizations work concessions, raising funds for their own projects and programs. Business vendors set up shop. Hometown folks prepare and serve the food — food the festival is known for being unique.

And then there's the music. Alpine and Bavarian style entertainment, the best of it, floating out across the banks of that beautiful spring-fed river. Dr.

Grist looked at a city full of sausage makers in 1961 and saw something the rest of the world was missing. Every fall since, New Braunfels has been proving him right.

What the marker says

An annual “salute to sausage” celebration, Wurstfest is held every fall on the Wurstfest grounds adjacent to Landa Park. The notion of a sausage festival was conceived in 1961 by Dr. E. A. Grist, veterinarian and city meat inspector in New Braunfels. At the time, New Braunfels had nineteen commercial sausage-making businesses in the city. Sausage making had been a local German tradition passed down through generations since the founding of the city. Initially the festival was held at the National Guard Armory, Landa Park and on Main Plaza. In 1967, the festival was moved to this industrial site originally developed in 1850 by William H. Meriwether who diverted the Comal River for a millrace to operate his grain mills. In 1860, Joseph Landa started Landa Industries at this location that later became Dittlinger Mills. Several buildings from the industrial era are utilized for the festival. In 1968, the celebration expanded to ten days. The festival is hosted by the Wurstfest Association of New Braunfels, a non-profit corporation whose mission is to promote the economy through tourism and preserve the community’s rich German heritage. Leadership and manpower required to oversee operations is provided by the 150-plus Wurstfest Association members along with many volunteers and temporary employees. In addition to business vendors, local clubs and organizations operate food and merchandise concessions to raise funds that benefit their projects and programs. The festival is known for its variety of unique foods prepared and served by hometown folks, the best in Alpine and Bavarian style musical entertainment and its beautiful setting along the banks of the spring-fed Comal River. (2017)