Oktoberfest USA has become a legendary Midwest celebration since it began in La Crosse in 1961. A number of customs have become ingrained in the culture of the uniquely La Crosse event. Some of the traditions spawn from creativity and fun, while others pop up from necessity and safety.
From behemoth bratwursts to rules designed to avert potential bridge collapses, it would be difficult to find traditions like these at any other festival. A few streets away from the main festival grounds, a group of American Legionnaires cook up their “golden bratwurst” to go alongside the festival’s Tapping of the Golden Keg. The 80-pound bratwurst, specially made by Bakalars Sausage Co.
and nicknamed the “B-52,” cooks for almost eight hours. A matching brat bun is crafted by Festival Foods to squeeze the behemoth brat inside. In true brat fashion, it’s served with piles of sauerkraut.
The Legionnaires have cooked the mammoth sausage on a special grill since 2013. Mike Bakalars, president of Bakalars Sausage Co. in La Crosse, smiles in front of the retrieved Golden Brat before the slicing ceremony last year at American Legion Post 52 in September 2017.
This brat was later stolen from the post and found abandoned a few blocks away. The mondo brat is sliced up and sold to support American Legion veterans’ community service events. In 2017, someone heisted the weiner.
Nobody was caught or identified related to the stolen sausage, which was found abandoned a few blocks away. While d.