Lincoln Square Maifest

What: Maifest
Where: Lincoln Square
How Much: Free (to my great surprise, last year it was $5)
How to get there: Red line to Lawrence, #81 bus to Wilson

There is really only one thing Maifest is about- beer. And there are only two choices- imported or domestic. The domestic is Pabst Blue Ribbon, staple of dive bars everywhere, and the imported is the dangerously drinkable Hofbrau- Munchen.
And all the beers come in commemorative cups. The sizes are large, small, or boot. I opted for a small cup of the Hofbrau.
I am a teacher, and yesterday at school we had an incredibly exhausting walk-a-thon. Then after school I decided it was a good idea to go to the gym. In order to work off all this fair food I will be eating, I am doing a training program through NikePlus. Add those things together and drink a relatively large beer and I was buzzed 10 minutes into the fair. It became immediately apparent that food was going to be a necessity.

The food system here works on tickets. It's $10 for a book of 10 tickets. A sandwich will run you about 7 tickets, a pretzel 2, and a beer between 5 (for a small refill) and 12 (for a full boot). This works out well for them because it is almost impossible to perfectly use up all your tickets. I checked at the one food vendor and everything there was made out of pork. That left me very few options so I went with the safest- a soft pretzel. A stone-cold, kind of tough pretzel. I don't know about you but I expect my soft pretzels to be soft. It was satisfyingly stomach-filling and soaked up enough of my beer that I could function.

There was a band playing: the Polkaholics. And plenty of people
in Leiderhosen just hanging out. Also those dresses that push your boobs up
to your throat. (see woman in above beer ad)

There were also carnival games, complete with the prerequisite carnies. Mostly there is not a lot to do but stand around and get drunk, which can be a blast with the right people. Almost more fun than getting drunk yourself is watching other people get drunk. Last year I didn't even go, I just got a milkshake at the Potbelly's across the street and watched people stumble out at the end of the night.

The biggest problem with this fair is that alcohol sales end at 10. That means that when the fair closes around 11, drunk people flood the surrounding bars and restaurants. So if you had a hankering for some Garcia's, don't even think about it. It's also CRAZY crowded. Don't worry if you missed it last night, there are two more days of this festival. Here are some other things that happened:



I don't know either of these people but the guy with the hat had a sign that said prince someone or other. Also, that guy behind me is dancing with a feather. Not sure if that's a traditional form of German dance.

See you at noon at the Gospel Music Festival in Millennium Park and later at Do Division!!