2023 DATE: August 11-13, 2023
AUTHOR’S NOTE: In 2021, the location of this festival has moved to St. Anne’s Hill in Dayton.
This post documents my experience on August 15, 2015.
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I headed to Dayton’s Carillon Park…
…where the outside poles called in das volk for the Germanfest Picnic.
Two buildings with entry to the picnic housed either a genealogy center…
…or the Carillon Brewery Company…
…and they both took festival goers to a large picnic area…
…where families could pose together for photo ops…
… or caricatures…
…where kids had their owner korner (sic)…
…and inflatable fun land…
…and where adults could relax in the biergartens…
…while enjoying both American and German beers and wines sold nearby.
A market area sat in the heart of the festival…
…offering stained glass…
…crocheted gifts…
…nutcrackers…
…steins…
…and your run-of-the-mill Germanic festival apparel…
…including hats that were both traditional…
…and fun.
Along with such snacks as roasted almonds and pretzels…
…most people came for pork chops, noodles (Black Jack/Bessie’s)…
…(maybe) hot dogs in funnel cake dough…
…and many of the items found on the main food menu…
…typically found at the tents where the lines were particularly long…
…and there were serving lines.
Much of that food was enjoyed under the entertainment tent…
…where there was music and dancing a-plenty.