BRENHAM MAIFEST CELEBRATION JUST AROUND THE CORNER
The Brenham Maifest Celebration is right around the corner and the Maifest Association has released the full schedule of activities. Beginning Friday, 23 business downtown and around Brenham will be displaying the Royal Attire from previous Maifests. Saturday, April 28th, the Fourth Annual Maifest Color Run will begin at Henderson Park. On Thursday, May 3rd, the carnival opens on the Maifestival grounds at Fireman’s Park. On Saturday, May 5th at 10:30 AM, both the Junior and Senior Maifest Parades will take place in Downtown Brenham. KWHI will be broadcasting the parade live. The Junior Coronation is Friday May 4th at 7:00 PM at Fireman’s Park and the Senior Coronation will be Saturday at 7:00. Admission to the Maifestival grounds is free and tickets for the Coronations go on sale this Friday.
Full Press Release from Maifest:
The 128th Maifest celebration – May 4 and 5, 2018
The Brenham Maifest is excited about sharing the 128th Maifest Celebration with the community. This video
gives a behind the scenes look at Maifest:
Maifest is here! It’s a weekend of fun, family, and festivities! We will continue to have one parade this year on Saturday morning, while showcasing our local youth talent at the Junior and Senior coronations each night at 7pm. We’ve added many new and exciting events and activities planned for everyone. We have approximately 570 participants in the parade and coronations, with 350+ volunteers helping to organize the events.
Starting April 20th – May 7th – there will be the Former Royalty attire displays Walking Tour downtown and at various locations in Brenham. There are a total of 23 locations this year. Each display includes the year, court name, and the name of the king and/or queen.
Friday, April 20th & Saturday, April 21st – Reserved and General Admission Tickets can be purchased for the Junior and Senior coronations from 7:00 am – 9:00 am on Friday, April 20th and from 10:00 am – 11:30 am on Saturday, April 21st at The Atrium Building (105 E. Main St, Suite 100A, Brenham, Texas). All tickets will be available to purchase during practice the week of Maifest. The prices of the tickets are $5.00 for student tickets and $10.00 for General Admission.
Saturday, April 28th - The Fourth Annual Maifest Color Run will begin at Henderson Park on Saturday, April 28th from 8:00 am – 10:45 am. Registration packets can be picked up on Thursday, April 26th from 4:00 - 6:00 pm at the All Sports Building at Hohlt Park (2425 N Park St, Brenham, Texas) or from 8:00-8:45 am at Henderson Park. On Saturday, April 28th at 9:00 am will begin the Color Run through Henderson Park. All proceeds from the Maifest Color Run will be donated to the Brenham Maifest Costume Scholarship. For more information visit:
http://www.maifest.org/participate/maifest-color-run/
Register for the race: https://www.raceroster.com/events/2018/17141/maifest-color-run
Sunday, April 29th – The Polka Service is back! The service will begin at 10:30 am at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (305 W. Third Street, Brenham, Texas). We will enjoy worship music with a polka beat, while celebrating our Sunday with the St. Paul’s church family. Following the church service in the St. Paul’s Fellowship Hall will be a German Heritage Celebration Luncheon from noon – 2:00 pm. The meal will be sausage and sauerkraut with all the trimmings for $10.00 per ticket – dine in or drive thru. Tickets are available for purchase at Tre’s Chic and St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Office until April 25th.
Thursday, May 3rd - The Mighty Thomas Carnival opens on the Maifestival grounds at Fireman’s Park starting Thursday night through Saturday evening. Rides and games for all ages will begin at 5:00 pm on Thursday and Friday nights. The Carnival will open at 11:00 am on Saturday morning. Friday, May 4th - The Junior Maifest Coronation will be held Friday evening at 7:00 pm with young children participating in an elaborate outdoor ceremony which provides entertainment and the presentation of the Junior King and Queen. Souvenir Programs can be purchased for $5.00 at the coronation. Live bands featuring some of Texas’ best new talent will begin at 5:30pm and continue throughout the evening on Fireman’s Park main stage. Plenty of food, “German soda water”, beer and wine will be available in the Bier and Wine Gartens.
Saturday, May 5th at 10:30 am the Junior and Senior parade will be lining the streets. We have children riding the floats dressed in costume to coordinate with the court themes, and the sound of bands keeps your hands clapping. Community volunteers have worked together over the past 5 months to showcase the talent within our community for everyone to enjoy. The volunteer fire departments from Washington County will be supporting the Maifest parade while driving their fire trucks through the parade route, as well as the Shriners, local officials, high school and college marching bands, to name a few. After the parade, you can drive or walk to the festival at Fireman’s Park for a great day at the park with entertainment for all ages. Stay tuned to KTEX 106.1 or KWHI 1280 for updates in the event of inclement weather. Admission is free to the The Maifestival grounds on May 4th and 5th and will feature: German Music and dancing, a variety of food vendors, and children’s activities.
In conjunction with Maifest, the Zythological Society of North America will host the annual Meister Von Bier: Homebrew Contest. Registration starts at 12:00 pm. The contest will begin at 1:00 pm at the American Legion Hall at Fireman’s Park. The cost is $8.00 for the first entry and $7.00 for additional entries. For an entry form visit: http://www.maifest.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/Maifest2016MeisterVonBierForm.pdf
The Zythological Society will also be hosting Bierverkostung! Beer Tasting! from 2:00 – 5:00 pm at the Fireman’s Park Main Pavilion. A glass can be purchased for $20, allowing you to try 12 different beers from 6 different craft breweries. For more information visit: http://zyth.bigcartel.com/product/bierverkostung-beer-tasting
We will have a variety of food booths (German, BBQ, Cajun, Mexican, Carnival style, Pizza), a biergarten and wine tent. We also have several children activities to include: the Carousel, a petting zoo, face painters, caricature artists, carnival rides, bounce house, and more.
The junior and senior coronations are spectacular – the youth of our community come together at Fireman’s Park each spring to celebrate together the enthusiasm and support of Brenham and Washington County. Each child is introduced and feels special as the crowd applauds their smiling faces. Reserved and General Admission Tickets can be purchased for the Junior and Senior coronations from 7:00 am – 9:00 am on Friday, April 20th and from 10:00 am – 11:30 am on Saturday, April 21st at The Atrium Building (105 E. Main St, Suite 100A, Brenham, Texas). All tickets will be available to purchase during practice the week of Maifest. The prices of the tickets are $5.00 for student tickets and $10.00 for General Admission.
Maifest has provided over $63,000 in scholarships over the past 30 years to help students in our community attend college. This year’s scholarship recipient(s) will be announced in May, 2018.
Kids Helping Kids Project for 2018:
Each year at the Serenade we will announce the partnership we will have in the community with the Kids Helping Kids program. Maifest wants to be a part of teaching children how to serve others. This year’s project is the SMART Program at Faith Mission. The participants in Maifest will donate packaged snacks or small donations at the practices on Tuesday and Thursday the week of Maifest. The donations help the summer program stock their shelves for the kids in our community. A description of the SMART program is listed below.
The Brenham Maifest mission statement contains two words that we truly take to heart: community and youth. Maifest has teamed up with the Brenham Faith Mission, a non-profit organization created to be a clearinghouse for assistance to the homeless and working poor in the county, by sponsoring the (Kids Helping Kids) Initiative. Every year, homeless youth in our community rely on the school lunch programs for their sole source of food each day. Unfortunately, these youth have nothing to rely on during the summer. That’s where Kids Helping Kids comes in. The young people that participate in the Brenham Maifest will learn to serve others by helping a local organization by collecting supplies and snacks to fill the pantries at Faith Mission to help feed these homeless youth during their summer months. What better example of helping others than to see the kids getting involved themselves! Along with the food donations, monetary donations and corporate sponsorships will be used to help fund Faith Mission’s SMART program (Science Math Art Reading Team), which helps the homeless youth and their families in our community. The SMART program includes both school year and summer activities. During the school year, the SMART program offers after school tutoring and enrichment services, while the summer they provide both academic and cultural enrichment classes. The program helps anywhere from 20-40 elementary and middle school aged children. Summer activities include field trips, summer camp, and interactive reading. The results from the SMART program have been increased school attendance, improved grades, and less behavioral issues. Other areas in which Maifest serves the youth of our community are:
• Scholarships – awarding six college scholarships; 20 Maifest costume scholarships
• Community Service – current junior and senior Maifest royalty provide 10 hours of community service throughout Brenham over the spring months Maifest continues to serve our guests by providing our website, Facebook, Instagram, online registration for participation, and credit card payments to name a few. We continue to work with businesses in the community and the surrounding areas to promote Brenham and Washington County. We have advertised in Houston Live Stock Show & Rodeo co-op, Round Top Register, Bluebonnet Electric co-op, Texas Highway co-op, Houston Chronicle Spring Festivals, Austin American Statesmen, Texas Polka News, and the San Antonio Magazine, as well as the Brenham, Houston, Huntsville, College Station, Houston, and Austin radio markets. If you have guests who want to visit the area, and stay for the weekend, they can visit www.brenhamtexas.com/ for more information on lodging and events in the area during the 1st weekend in May. We have several package promotions throughout Brenham for guests attending the Maifest festival.
For more information, coronation tickets, and current performance schedules visit: www.Maifest.org
Information provided by:
Jamie Rankin, Secretary
Maifest Board