BUCYRUS, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW) — As the eve before the 58th annual Bratwurst Festival approaches, and vendors start lining the streets, many look forward, anticipating the fun that is to come.
This year spares no expense, with country star Tracy Byrd coming to town. The festival also supports local educators through a 50/50 raffle, where 100% of the festival’s share goes to the Bucyrus Backpack Program. With earlier parade times, the famous steins, and nearly 90 vendors, this year promises a return to the festival’s roots, and to be better than ever.
“Things have changed dramatically over 58 years. So we’re trying to do our best to get back to as much of that as we can, and try and be as much community involved as we can, whatever aspect that may be, whether it’s through organizations volunteering, people volunteering, they’re contributing in some way monetarily, or whatever that works out to be,” Festival Director Doug Foght said.
Originally Colonel Crawford Days at its conception back in the mid-1960s, where local merchants would have three days of amazing sales, the Bratwurst Festival, as we now know it, was officially established in 1968.
Honoring the town’s German heritage, the Bratwurst Festival came about due to the 7 different delis in town who made bratwurst, and while Carle’s is the only remaining one, Center St. has made its way onto the scene, continuing the heritage.
Also playing into the heritage is the auction of the steins, which will take place on Saturday night at 7 p.m. on the main stage, right before the main act.
This year’s steins were painted by the Bucyrus Art Club. In the future, the committee hopes to involve other local schools’ art clubs in painting the steins, allowing students to count the work as community service, or volunteer hours.
Beyond their artistic value, the steins also serve a greater purpose. Money raised from the auction goes toward the Queen’s program to help fund travel expenses, and the scholarship program, if needed.
This year’s queen’s crowning will take place on Thursday evening at 8 p.m. at the Schines Art Park. The queen will receive a $2,000 scholarship, one of the most generous queen scholarships in the state, and this year it can now be used at tech schools, firefighting schools, etc., not just college.
This year’s parade times are Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m., and Saturday at 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday parade times were moved up to accommodate the heavier traffic flow anticipated with the musical acts.
The parade marshals are Kim Haldeman, Todd Martin, Mark Cory, Ron and Carolyn Sand, Dr. Mike Martin, and Jordan and Tracy Phillips. Honorable mentions are Bill Stepro, Fred Rinehart, Barb Christian, Zac Kaple, Paige Caudill, Marianne Williamson, Harold Eppley, Greg and Verna Schifer, Greg Shifley, Todd Roll, and Herb and Doris Jones.
Along with the help of many sponsors, the festival committee was able to secure the biggest act in the history of the festival, Tracy Byrd, who had the hits “Watermelon Crawl,” “Drinkin’ Bone,” “The Keeper of the Stars,” “I’m From the Country,” “Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo,” and many more.
This year’s musical acts on the FC Bank stage are Recess at 5 p.m., and Wet Bandits at 9 p.m. on Thursday; Toby May at 7 p.m., and Tracy Byrd at 9 p.m. on Friday; and Devin Henry at 8 p.m., and Atta Boy at 9 p.m. on Saturday.
To support the performers behind the scenes, Carle’s will cater dinners for the bands, while Pickwick will provide lunches.
“We’re getting it back to what it was founded on, and that is the nonprofits of this town,” Board President Adam Heinlen said.
“That’s the idea with the big acts that we’re bringing in. A lot of the reason for that is, is, yes, it’s going to be great for our festival, but hopefully it’s great for our community,” Foght said. “We’ll bring people in, they’ll stay overnight in our hotels, they’ll wake up, they’ll go to our local restaurants and eat breakfast, and spend a little money in our community before they go back home. So it’s all about bringing us together–there’s been a lot of turmoil everywhere in the world–and any way that we can do things in our community to bring our community together.”
While the festival lasts only three days, its impact reaches far beyond Bucyrus. One example of its extended reach: the electrical equipment used at the Bratwurst Festival also powers events across Ohio, including the Marion Popcorn Festival, Crestline Harvest Festival, Galion Oktoberfest, Circleville Pumpkin Show, and many more.
In addition, the committee—along with Kiwanis and Rotary—plans to donate a PA system for use in future Bucyrus events.
“That’s in process now, just so when we have Candlelight Christmas downtown, First Friday events, they have a public address system. They can play music, and they can make it festive downtown,” Heinlen said. “It’s also going to have an emergency tap-in for the police and fire department, so they can jump on the public address system if there is an emergency warning, if they need to get to the downtown area, i.e., when the tornado came through last year, they would have been able to give some kind of a warning to everybody that would have been in the downtown area at that time. It’s about giving back to Bucyrus, and as much as we can organize to do that and make this town better. It’s going to be better for everybody.”
While there are some who choose to skip town during the festival to avoid the extra foot traffic it brings, Foght encourages people to stay and support the community.
“It’s the one time of the year that if you want to see somebody that maybe you haven’t seen in a long time, you want to run into an old acquaintance, an old classmate, you want to run into a friend.”
“At the same time, you want to try some cuisine that you don’t try on a regular basis every day of the week, a different place to break for lunch. I mean, I know sometimes you think it’s greasy, but a lot of changes have been made to the preparation of the way vendors do things. There’s some really good foods to try up there now, but more than anything I would say this year, especially because you know we’ve done what we’ve done to bring the entertainment we’ve brought, make sure you get up and enjoy that. That’s part of your community dollars going back to work again for you to provide you with a festival, and some entertainment for a few days where you can get out, kick back, relax, and enjoy something, maybe make a mess somewhere else that somebody else has got to clean up before you go home,” Foght said. “Get to the vendors, because at the same time you’re going to see some local vendors that are like the athletic boosters for the kids’ schools, and stuff like that that you can patronize and give back a little bit for them in a sense. You can come up and razz the kids that are working in the booths. There’s so many different reasons I could tell you to come up, and just for a couple hours, you’ll enjoy yourself, and then you know if not, go back home.”
If, however, one still doesn’t enjoy it, festival volunteers and board members encourage community members to get involved, to volunteer, and offer fresh ideas that can help make the festival even more enjoyable down the road.
Another change the committee is looking at making is to bring back the parade floats.
“With our 60th coming up, we’re trying to put a drive out there for people to build the big floats again, and we want to be able to give back and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to give you a parade award,’ but we may want to be able to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to give you $500 for the winning float, but we want you to donate that to a nonprofit of your choice,’” Heinlen said.
“I just want to make sure that more than anything, thank you to all of our sponsors. Every one of them, because they’ve all either just given, or they’ve given more than they ever have, and I understand more than anything with the way things are in the economy, and everything else, for us to be given anything, I’m so thankful,” Foght said. “Please make sure you go out and patronize your local businesses. They are what makes our community what it is, and allows us to do the stuff that we do in our community, and have the fun that we get to have once in a while.”
The 58th annual Bratwurst Festival officially begins on Thursday at 11 a.m. on the Schines Art Park stage, as the incumbent queen eats the first bratwurst made on festival grounds, leading the way to a great weekend filled with great music, great company, and even better food.