Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival

Located just one hour north of Columbus, Bucyrus, Ohio is a small, quiet town for 362 days of the year. All of that changes in mid-August, when the town’s population swells to over 100,000 during the Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival. In 2001, Ohio Magazine voted the Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival as the “Best Food Festival” in the state. Not only does the festival celebrate the town’s German heritage with some of the best bratwurst in the world, but more than 100 other delicious foods are available, made from local family recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation. However, bratwurst reigns King during the Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival when more than 27 tons of the German sausage is cooked over open fire pits during this three-day, fun-filled, family event.

The Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival is held in the downtown streets of the town (with Sandusky Avenue being the main drag.) Bucyrus is recognized the world over as the “Bratwurst Capital of America.” The state of Wisconsin is usually considered the authority on the bratwurst with annual celebrations in Sheboygan and Johnsonville, but in the early 1970s, Bucyrus took on Sheboygan in a “Battle of the Brats” and won, thus earning Bucyrus the much sought after title “Bratwurst Capital of America.” Plus, Sheboygan’s festival is a much smaller event than the Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival, attracting only about 8,000 visitors per year. It is said that Bucyrus bratwurst is different because the recipes vary from maker to maker whose families have emigrated from Germany. Local butchers have perfected these recipes over the years, giving them their own special touch and cooking them over open fires. The Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival actually dates back to Colonel Crawford Days when merchants held sidewalk sales and the city was also once home to numerous bratwurst makers who sold their brats from curbside stands.