A small Texas town has been split in two by a dispute over rival beer festivals.
Tensions among residents of Muenster, a rural community settled by German immigrants, have been brewing following competitive events that took place over three days in April.
The dispute began over differing opinions on how to distribute profits from beer sales at the city’s biggest event of the year, Germanfest, and the influx of tourists to the previously community-focused event.
For the first time in decades, a rival event featuring beer, sausages, music and lederhosen-clad natives emerged across Division Street on the same weekend.
“I had tears in my eyes,” local resident William Fisher, 83, told the newspaper. New York Times. “Suddenly it seems like the city went crazy.”
Tensions among residents of Muenster, a rural community settled by German immigrants, have been brewing following competitive events that took place over three days in April. (Pictured: revelers wearing lederhosen at Germanfest, the original festival)
For the first time in decades, a rival event featuring beer, sausages and music emerged on the other side of Division Street during the same weekend. (In the photo: the new event)
The dispute began over differing opinions on how to distribute profits from beer sales at the city’s biggest event of the year, Germanfest, and the influx of tourists to the previously community-focused event.
Many of those who opted for the new festival, Party In The Park, said the original celebration had been overrun by tourists.
The Germanfest now attracts around 20,000 visitors each year, something that locals say has put a damper on its authenticity.
It all started in 2018, when the festival moved to a spacious new indoor space on the outskirts of the city, allowing for more stalls and more space for visitors.
“It became more of an outside thing and lost that local touch,” Leslie Hess Eddleman, a dental hygienist and former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, told the NYT. “They made it a big show for outsiders, but not for us.”
But the final straw for organizers in launching the rival festival was the beer contract, which was about to be renewed.
A local volunteer organization called The Jaycees had been selling the beer for years and charged 80 percent for its charitable services.
The Germanfest now attracts around 20,000 visitors each year, something that locals say has put a damper on its authenticity.
Germanfest opened in Muenster in 1976 and became an instant hit, attracting people from nearby Dallas and beyond. It offered tug-of-war games, arm wrestling, and beauty contests.
Locals wore traditional German clothes such as dirndls (pictured: people enjoying the festival)
But the Münster Chamber of Commerce, which coordinates the Germanfest, wanted to renegotiate to ensure a more equitable division in exchange for helping decorate.
“We have 100 percent risk,” House Speaker and County Commissioner Matt Sicking told the NYT. “If it’s rain, we lose everything.”
“We can stay here moaning all day, but that’s not going to change anything,” he added. “Everything will turn out as God wants.”
Wayne Klement, 74, a senator from Jaycee, told the newspaper that no one would budge on either side, meaning his only option was to launch “a party of his own.”
Klement said the Jaycees had donated $165,000 in donations from the festival last year, mostly to local families in need, but that the cost of hosting the event was becoming more expensive.
“We depend on this weekend for our club,” he said.
Several local groups, including the Knights of Columbus and the Boy Scouts, joined the new event and pledged allegiance to the Jaycees.
Germanfest opened in Muenster in 1976 and became an instant hit, attracting people from nearby Dallas and beyond. It offered tug-of-war games, arm wrestling, and beauty contests.
Locals enjoyed live music at both events this year with much of the proceeds going to charitable causes.
The key component, the beer, was brought in by the Jaycees in a large refrigerated trailer truck with enough room for 200 kegs and 32 taps.
Meanwhile, the original event had to find an alternative source for its beers this year.
Social media posts showed that both events appeared to be well attended, with the usual stalls packing both sides of Division Street.
Muenster was founded in 1889 by German Catholic settlers Carl and Emil Flusche, and more than 90 percent of the population is German and Catholic to this day.
Many of the residents still speak German and the traditions that develop at the festivals are an important symbol of their identity and culture.