It took about 50 minutes from Austin to New Braunfels; however, it took another 40 minutes from I35 to downtown. Just after entering the city, we saw a lot of cars stuck on the way to downtown, and then we knew that we were going to the right place.

When we entered the Landa Park, where the festival was held, it was already full of people. Most of the people had cups and pitchers on their hands while some people also had sausages. The performances were in the tents, which were crowded with people. The music could be heard outdoors, so most people just stood outdoors talking, drinking, and eating.

The festival was for sausage and beer, so we didn’t hesitate to get them. A lot of people were in the line for beer, but they served in a very fast speed. As a result, we got our beer quickly. Since sausage could be found everywhere, I wanted to find the pig knuckle first. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it on the menus. Just before I was going to give up, I saw a man had a plate on which was something like what I was looking for. I asked him what it was and where to get it. He told me that it was ham and that it was available at the Smoked House. I managed to get it. However, I was disappointed for it was too salty and the taste was not like what I had in Germany. Despite of that, it was a good match of beer.

Although the park was so crowded that we couldn’t find places to sit, standing outdoors, talking, drinking, eating, and seeing people around was fun. The German music as well as joy spread around the park. Everybody was soaking in the atmosphere of the festival.

After having enough foods, we left at 8:30. When we left the park, we found that more people were coming to the park, which was already so crowded. I doubted that the park was big enough for people.

It was a pity to have left early. Nevertheless, we had a good time. I had expected German stuff in the festival. It was. It wasn’t. The music seemed like German style, and the beer and the sausage were representativeness of German foods. Anything else was American. Even the sausage and the beer were more American style than German style. I think that the culture had already become a culture of America while people who came from Germany had become Americans.