Austoberfest has the winning recipe for me: culture, food, beer, music and family-friendly. Kids under 13 are free! The venue is small and it got crowded, fast. The place was lively, with many big name BBQ joints serving their smoked sausages. I also enjoyed the live folk music and folks dancing. No Octoberfest would be complete without the contests. There was the traditional costume, each with a story, followed by a bier stein holding contest and yodeling. Congrats to all the contestants for being brave enough to get on that stage. They even have bowling alleys! It's apparently very old and you can bowl barefoot. Bier + bowling = gutter, for me anyways. I never thought a low bowling score could be so much fun. I agree with Tony B. I wish there were more variety of German food and shorter lines, but all in all, I had a good time. read more