My first and last Wassailfest. They tried to duplicate the Christmas Market atmosphere in Europe…read more Very difficult to do for one 3 hour (6-9PM) block of time on a single evening. Instead it was just a mass of people milling around downtown New Braunfels. Very long lines for mini sized paper cups of wassail. Just a mess.

Wonderful time! Great feeling of community and small town warmth. New to this beautiful town and…read moreso happy we made the move!

I took my son on some rides , had the best corn dog ever, and the music was great . Atmosphere was…read morekid friendly and I will definitely go back.

Well worth the ticket price. There were a lot of vendors and multiple drink booths that move really…read morefast. Much more enjoyable compared to something like Fredericksburg. No drink tickets involved. And you won't have to pre buy beer to avoid getting back into long lines. I don't recommend buying the plastic beer mind btw. You end up paying more for beer. Unless of course you plan on reading it next year. Food and beer selection was good. Spent about 2 hrs here seeing everything. Probably could have taken more time if we decided to hangout in certain areas for longer.

Everything was great until we decided to go on the Steampunk for our last ride of the night. We…read morewaited in line for 15+ minutes but once we got to the front, the attendant guy told us we had to go all the way to the back of the line. Now, he wasn't speaking english so we did not understand what he said and he got angry at us and started pointing at the back of the line. A guy in front of us asked him why and he said we cut the line, even though we didn't. Several people began defending us, including the guy in front. The attendant didn't budge and we were unable to go on another ride before we left.

InAPickle festival was Completely unorganized, 2-hours in line to park. How difficult is it to…read moredirect traffic for a right turn? They had young kids attempting to direct traffic but they barely had the energy to lift a hand to wave cars through. Yet the trained traffic police were inside the fairgrounds. I saw at least 10 parked police vehicles. I would rename the Wurst Pickle festival. Even getting in was a nightmare, seems like as many clueless people being turned away for not having tickets taking up the long line to get in. Leaving was also a waste of time and gas. No one directing traffic for a simple exit of right turn only. Holly cow! Get it your head out of the pickle barrel. Shame on New Braunfels not providing better infrastructure.

I've been to many wine tasting festivals in different cities, and this one was not worth it. The…read moreprice is $20 for a wine glass and 5 tickets for tastings. Personally 5 tastings is not enough when there are dozens of winery booths there. If the tastings were unlimited, then the $20 ticket price would be very worth it. All wine tasting events I have been to in the past, included unlimited tastings except for this one. Plus this event gets super packed with people, which makes for waiting in long lines at the tasting booths. After we got all of our wine tastings we just went to The Grapevine and The Winery on Gruene to hang out. There wasn't much else to do at the wine festival beside the tastings. We will definitely skip this festival next year.

I am a Gruene, TX fan. So, I am a bit biases- I just love Gruene. However, the coordinators of…read morethis event really could step it up to make this an off the charts must go to event. I have attended several times and sadly the ticket price ratio to the event doesn't equate. So, don't jump on your social media accounts to invite all of your friends and their crew. Share your $$. I will share with you why...ticket prices have increased over the years, but the drink tixs have decreased, as well of the goody bag that had been given in the past. Additionally, there are fewer quality wine and craft vendors. The food trucks are a joke, we waited 25 minutes for our food--there is LIMITED seating for the event. One year we were first in line, once we entered the majority of tables already were full with "regulars" who had bags of food and personal items plus bottles of wine. My husband has a severe health problem and needed to put his legs up and use an umbrella. A cowboy came over to him and ordered him to put his legs down and move his umbrella (he was using it bc of the sun---he had recently had a bone marrow transplant.). The guy wanted his wife to sit down and then called my husband a very profane name. So- guests are pushy and rude. The tents are not ventilated well- be prepared to sweat your butts off. The music is fun- we had to use the Grapevine bathrooms (ladies beware ONE TOLIET). The line is long--- advice bring. Friend with you to guard the male bathroom so that you can use it to cut your time.

My kids went & spent $15 a plate for pure 'garbage'. Guy was down to bottom of it & no corn no…read morepotatoes to be found. Once they sat down they realized it was all just cold trash that sinks to very bottom. What a huge letdown.

Wow! This event was so disappointing. I arrived with a friend on Saturday 6:30 pm. First of all, we…read moretook an Uber and the teenage parking nazis wouldn't let my driver through. We had to get out at the Common St. entrance and walk about 400 yards to the ticket booth. I just had knee surgery and a couple back procedures so this was literally a pain! Tickets were $25 each. Are you kidding?! I'm not sure why I paid, but I guess I wanted to make the best of it. Once inside the grounds, which was like a total of 5 acres, we immediately noticed there were not a lot of folks there. We decided to walk around and came to the carnival ride area. There were some rides not operating and the two that were looked like they had been used since the 1920's. It's amazing what superglue and duct tape can hold together. Then there was the food.........! The crawfish I saw people eating looked unimpressive so I went with a $9 bowl of mushy, flavorless jambalaya. After my mouth felt as if I had been licking sawdust, I was thirsty. I passed on the $5 canned beer and instead bought an $8 strawberry lemonade. I threw that sour, overpriced trash in the garbage after I forced half of it down. After wasting 30 minutes of my life that I'd never get back we decided to leave. My advice to anyone considering this so called "festival" is to instead go find a nice restaurant patio somewhere and enjoy a cocktail and a decent meal.

The lights were cool but definitely not worth 50 dollars. No way…read more I would have rather driven around neighborhoods looking at lights.

This review is for The Light Park. Go on a weeknight before the week before Christmas, good flow…read moreand no wait. It was cute enough for a festive thing to do for the holidays. Lots to see. Less expensive then other places. Synched to music. Laid out in a tight long S curves in a parking lot in Retama park. I guess this has a new name The Light Park. Kids enjoyed and I enjoyed seeing the kids happy. It's a parking lot of Christmas lights and drive thru tunnels.

TO NOTE: The Wurstfest CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL is not the same event as Wurstfest (aka Oktoberfest) in…read moreNew Braunfels. The CRAFT BEER event is simply held on the same grounds in the spring; whereas, Wurstfest is in the fall. Nor is it to be confused with the Texas Craft Beer Fest held at Fiesta Gardens in Austin annually. Jeez. ;) The 3rd annual 2017 Texas Craft Beer Festival is sponsored by and on the same grounds as Wurstfest, but they are two very different events at two very different times of year. Well, two things in common: beer and sausage. :D The TCBF hosts over 100 craft brews, about a dozen food trucks, live music, a "real" restroom box with running water (HUGE lady bonus), and doesn't over sale tickets so just the right amount of friendly folks to enhance the good libations. For only $35p/p (or $50 at the gates) you get entry, 6 generous sample pours, and of course have option to buy more by cup or bottle. There were Texas craft beers from all across the Lone Star state. Many of which I was already familiar with (Austin in da house), including some of my favorite locals (shout out to Adelbert's and Oasis Texas!). Also suds from San Antonio, Dallas/Ft.Worth Metro, Seguin...the list goes on and on. Overall: Really well organized, all beers well-stocked, staff super nice, reasonable prices for "extras," great grounds ("down by the river!"), and perfect weather. I know where I'll be next April. Cheers to beer y'all! Tips: Cash only event. Bring some sweet moola. Park across the street for 10 bucks. If you don't live in New Braunfels, fork out the dough for a hotel or make some friends. Ha!

Keep the Wurstfest Craft Beer Festival lame. This "festival," if you want to call it that, was…read morepretty sad. Let me start by saying that my gf paid for 2 $100 VIP tickets for us, so most of this review is about the "VIP" experience. You would figure that for that amount, you'd get an excellent experience. Not so much. I'm no hipster but I do love me some craft beer. While all the breweries were all damn good, you would figure that for the price (VIP or Regular), you'd see breweries/beers that you CAN NOT find at HEB/VALERO/Stripes. Uh, yeah, no. There was not one single beer represented that I couldn't find at any convenience/grocery store, even here, in New Braunfels. The only real perk you received was you got to see some dude play acoustic and a mediocre bbq plate- that's it. There's been other festivals that for VIP, you may get additional better perks: extra drink tickets, swag, get to start earlier than general admission, etc. This festival totally robbed you. To make matters worse, I reached out to the organizers via phone, email and social media and never heard a response. I would not only not pay for the VIP experience, I would not even pay for the regular experience. You're better off taking the money you would spend there an head to HEB and create your own six packs, invite your buddies over to your place and have your own festival. You'd get a better experience.

Santa's Ranch is one of those places that instantly puts you in a good mood the moment you pull in…read more It's warm, festive, and so full of Christmas spirit that even the Grinch would crack a smile. The light displays are beautiful -- creative, colorful, and way bigger than you expect. Every turn has something new and fun, and we found ourselves pointing things out like little kids. The staff was so kind and welcoming, and the whole experience felt organized and relaxed (no chaos, even with the crowds!). My favorite part? Rolling the windows down, letting the cold air in, and just soaking up that magical holiday feeling. It's the perfect cozy night out with family, kids, or your partner -- hot cocoa in hand, Christmas music on, and nothing but twinkly light happiness.

This place is a lot bigger than I expected. And a lot better than trail of lights in Austin. Trail…read moreof lights just displays cardboard cutouts of stuff. This place actually uses lights! I also liked the different themes and music. I took tons of pics but will just post my favorites.

Most of this food is cheap carnival food, but there is one African American team with a 50 foot…read moresmoker cooking wood smoked whole turkey legs. They are not with the other barbecue competitors but in the festival area. The Schertz Park Commission always puts on good festivals, but they need to offer more upscale food trucks. The bands were great as always. My big complaint was the parking area was about 3 football fields away. They kept the closest spots for the bbq competitors. We are the paying customers.

Super unorganized and a logistical failure. There were no hand wash or sanitize stations! None of…read morethe staff were helpful in helping us navigate the parking lot or even where to go for the concert venue. They closed down floating early both days with no notice and we didn't get a refund despite buying a float pass. Total BS. The shows were good and there was a large variety of food vendors but that's the only good part.

This is going to be one of those adventures you kinda wish you knew from the get-go instead of…read morehaving to jump on the bandwagon years from now. From Coachella to Burning Man, they have all grown into some major commercialized concepts but I heard the beginning years were magical. Float Fest is going to be on that list. I had a flipping blast and so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone for this. Being able to float the river both days, listen to amazing acts such as SANTIGOLD, Metric, Chromeo, and more; as well as, camping out and making new friends was a LOT OF FUN. Everyone is super friendly and floating the river and transportation to float is included! Set up camp and change into your bathing suits. You can also take alcohol onto the river but you have to make sure no glass. MAJOR NO NO The reason why it's not five stars is because there's definitely room for improvement but for a new festival they pretty much did Texas a solid.