Fall Festival: Steinfest in Plano

Plano started a new fall festival tradition - Steinfest in Downtown Plano.

Even better - it's an Oktoberfest-like festival that actually happens in October, instead of the traditional September. It's the perfect time of year to avoid other cities' festivals while also enjoying the wonderful Texas fall weather.

Downtown was packed with food vendors, games and communal dining tables - 15th Street was shut down for the occasion.

A local potter made steins (signed and dated) for the event. Beautiful! I may use it as a vase.

There's nothing like sitting together at tables in the middle of the street.

We shared an order of delicious pork shanks from our favorite BBQ joint, Lockhart BBQ.

And we braved the line at Ye Ole Butcher shop for a bratwurst burger.

It was worth the wait! (We shared, of course.)

There were tons of games for kids and adults (Giant jenga! Painting! Keg rolling! Chicken dances!) We stopped by to watch the stein race.

What's that, you say? Well...

Then it was back in line for more food. This time, caramel apple french toast from Kelly's Eastside. YUM!!

Then a final wait in line for a cup of homemade hot chocolate from Jorg's Cafe Vienna (we still need to eat a meal there...wonder why it's taking us so long to get around to doing that?).

Again - the wait was worth it. Is that freshly whipped topping I see? Yes, yes it is.

Our thoughts on Steinfest? We hope this becomes an annual festival in Plano. It's so much fun and was a really relaxing way to spend the afternoon. Plus we ran into so many friends as we hung out - it made it feel like a giant town party rather than a stuffy festival.