Last year it was all about surviving. This year it was all about enjoying. With my second Taste of Hamburg-er Festival under my belt, I can say that I certainly see why people get so excited about it.
Last year’s experience was more of a shock and figuring out how to cover such a large event that has so much going on throughout the whole entire day. By the end of the day I lost count of how many laps I did and how many different stands I stopped at with my trusty notebook out scribbling notes as fast as I could to not miss anything. At the same time I was being exposed to this festival for the first time ever and was in no way prepared from any past experiences. Yes, I did enjoy it that first year, but it was much more about work and making sure I did a good job on writing an article that covered as much as I could. It was a tiring, long day, but was more on the work side rather than the take part as a first time attendee.
This year was so much different and almost felt like my first time attending because I was a festival-goer first and the work part was already pretty much done. With that first experience I was able to set up a plan and able to have help from our intern, Laura Dillon, in covering such a large event that is so important to this town and area. I was able to walk around with her to let her know the lay of the land and give her an idea of what she should look for.
The first thing we did a little after 10 a.m. was get ourselves the “Luther Burger” for breakfast. This of course was on my list of what I had to try this year just because I always heard so much about it. With breakfast out of the way, we continued to walk around before separating so we could cover more ground.
As always, one of my favorite parts of these types of events is the vendors. I pride myself on being a great gift giver by finding the unique items that can’t be found at just any store. It works out even better at these fall events as I am a huge Halloween fan and there was no shortage of fall inspired items available from artists, crafters and vendors. Needless to say I certainly did not leave the festival empty-handed.
The best part of having that first year experience and having been in this position for more than year now, is that I could barely go a few feet without seeing a familiar face. This is the part that I love about my job. Being able to meet so many different people and get to know them makes me truly appreciate this position. And honestly, what’s better than a pretty nice Labor Day holiday weekend with lot of great food, entertainment and people that you can call your friends?
Because I knew what I was doing this year, I even invited my best friend and her family to come to the festival. It was nice to act a bit as a tour guide in the crowded streets of Downtown Hamburg as they searched for the different burgers to try and different vendors to shop at. They certainly enjoyed themselves and were quite shocked at just how large the attendance is for the festival.
What always amazes me with this event is how well run it is and how happy everyone generally seems to be. It’s crowded. It’s fairly hot. There are long lines. But you don’t really hear anyone complain. I have been to my fair share of concerts, fairs and other big events. There are certain ones that I stay away from because I know what to expect and it’s not my type of thing. But that is not the case for Taste of Hamburg-er Festival.
I’m always impressed with how smoothly the festival runs. Even if there are small issues, I have not heard about them which means the staff and volunteers do an excellent job at addressing the problems and coming up with solutions. Even the stands do a great job of getting the food to the attendees quickly making those long lines move rather rapidly. Kudos to Our Town Foundation staff and volunteers for making the festival an enjoyable day in Downtown Hamburg.
Another Taste of Hamburg-er Festival is in the books and I for one certainly had a fun time this year. This year we asked for readers to submit their photos from the festival. From these photos, it is pretty safe to say that you had a great time as well. I am looking forward to what the 12th annual Taste of Hamburg-er Festival will bring next year and I hope you all are too.
Shea Singley is the editor of The Hamburg Area Item. She can be reached at ssingley@berksmontnews.com.
