Bockfest

This year I attended Bockfest, which was held on the first weekend of March. In an earlier post, I listed details about the Cincinnati event. I arrived downtown Cincinnati around 5:00, just in time for the parade. I assumed I would be watching the festivities, but instead I filled in as one of the goats pulling the float. My brother and sister had created some goatheads for us to wear. The goatheads wore monk like robes and the masks. Due to a lack of robes, I simply wore my work clothes with the mask. On the float was my younger brother in a German Oktoberfest outfit playing drums and accordion. Pulling the float in the front was a real-life pregnant lady with a German hat and a goat painted on her shirt. The goats pulled the float with ropes on the sides, but a couple of us simply held onto the float so it wouldn't fall apart. We passed out root beer barrel candy along the path. We received many cheers and had our picture taken a few times. After the parade there was an awards show, but we could not see anything, since there was not a stage. We were surprised to later find out that we won a major award, the "Most Fun" entrant. Unfortunately the award was one pint glass, so we are in the process of handing the glass back and forth. Below are some pics.

We spent both Friday and Saturday night at Kaldis, a bookstore/restaurant/bar on Main Street in the Over-the-Rhine area of town. Kaldis had at least five different Bock beers. There was a coupke by local brewers Christian Morlein and Barrel House. I personally preferred the Spaten Maibock. There was a special menu, and I sampled a dish that was basically chili dogs. Overall the weekend was a lot of fun, and I look forward to this festival further developing as the Over-the-Rhine area continues to connect to its history. Below are a few more pics.