Tony has been counting down to the return of Oktoberfest for months. This year, it was moved to Lyon Park. While still in Soulard, it is quite different than the old location which was in the heart of Soulard right next to the farmer's market. The move was met with mixed opinions, and was quite controversial when it was announced. While I understand that it was moved for space reasons, most agree that the old location was better. It was smaller, so it forced you to be a part of the merriment. Lyon Park is almost too spread out.
Since Oktoberfest is a beer festival, why not hold it across the street from the Budweiser plant.
The brats that were used in the eating competition. According to Tony, the bread was killer. He was practicing on regular hot dog buns, but they used a pretzel bread bun for the competition. Here in the Midwest, they like to serve everything on pretzel bread. I'm fine with it because it is delicious, but it is really thick and not something that you can chew quickly!
A professional athlete at work.
Tony with his sign girl. She almost cost him the competition! People in our group had to point out to her that she had forgotten to change his number count at one point.
For his efforts, Tony won a VIP badge which gave him all you can eat food, beer, wine, and soft drinks. Also, he had access to the VIP bathrooms. Apparently this is pretty important after competing in a food eating contest. And the title Bratwurst King. Really, he did it for the title. Everything else was just lagniappe.
Tony with a few of the other sign girls. If you notice, his mouth is still full with the final bite. It took him a good five minutes to finish off the last bite that he crammed in his mouth to secure the victory. They tried to interview him after, but that didn't go well. He will be featured in the newspaper. Let me know if you'd like a copy.
Tony shows off his roll of Tums that he ate after the competition was complete.
I was genuinely shocked by how many people had their babies and young children there. Oktoberfest is not a place for kids! This couple was letting the kid walk and using his stroller to carry their beer. It's hard to tell from this angle, but they had 4 beer steins full of beer in the stroller.
Tony ran into his sign girl later on as well.
Beautiful!
Soulard Oktoberfest 2010 was definitely a success! Tony is already looking forward to next year. Will he defend his title?
