Let's Talk Texas Reds

6,365 Views | 35 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by techno-ag
Jetty
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AG
Anybody have inside scoop they want to share? Food trucks? Craft vendors? Tips?
When we've gone in the past we weren't too impressed - but it's been a few years.
Thoughts??
Max06
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AG
It's fun, but probably not an all-day/all-night type thing. Our group usually buys 1-2 wine glasses and 1-2 beer glasses in order to sample whatever we want. There's absolutely no reason for each person to buy their own beer and/or wine glass because the samples are ample enough to share.

We usually go early- 11am to 2pm and the crowds aren't too bad. As the day goes on the crowds will increase and it's just not fun anymore.

There will be steak tasting again Saturday 3pm-6? but requires a $10 wrist band and in previous years they have sold out.

Skip the steak plate meal and go to a local restaurant- after floating around downtown tasting beer/wine all afternoon the last thing you'll want is to eat a mediocre steak in a stuffy tent when you could pay the same or less at a local eatery, in the air conditioning.
halibut sinclair
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Over the years, we have rotated through the steak dinner, steak and egg brunch, beer tastings and wine tastings so we don't get burned out on one thing. This year we are doing wine after doing beer the past few years. We have friends who stay at the La Salle all weekend and make a mini-vacation out of it. We've always had a good time walking around and seeing friends and visiting and listening to the music. I agree about eating at one of the restaurants - they are usually running some kind of steak special. We usually end up at Margie's.
KidDoc
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AG
I've never been but I'm considering it this year.

What type of music is played? Is it all country?

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halibut sinclair
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Nevermind, then.
KidDoc
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AG
Yeah I saw that on the website but have no idea who any of those artists are or what genre they play. I know I can google each one and try to figure it out but figured someone on Texags already knows them.
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DBA
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Howdy everyone -
I'll answer a few questions here and point you to the website for more info. The steak sampling wristband is sold out. Don't let that keep you from walking around the cookoff area, though. Some of the teams may be generous with any extra they may have. There are still tickets available for the steak dinner by J Cody's on Saturday and the Steak and Egg Brunch on Sunday.

Though the music generally leans country, we have other genres represented. The Texas Unlimited Band kicks off the weekend Friday night at 8 p.m. We are excited to have quite a few local bands throughout Saturday afternoon on the main stage as well as in the acoustic cafe next to the wine and beer tasting tents. Sunday at The Palace will also feature local bands.

We'll have the Aggie game on a big screen at The Palace Sports Zone. If you need an A/C break, step into The Queen Theatre Saturday from noon - 6 p.m. for Classic Cartoons - all free!

Don't forget to stop by the many shops we have downtown. You'll see some cool merchandise and meet some amazing local owners. If festival food isn't to your liking, we have great options among the 20+ downtown restaurants.
[url=http://texasredsfestival.com/][/url]
Festival website The full schedule is here.
halibut sinclair
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IMnAg79
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AG
Bring a chair?
DBA
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You are welcome to bring chairs!
redd38
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AG
Do I have to buy a new wine glass or can I use one from a previous year?
Max06
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AG
They're white logos this year. You're supposed to buy a new one but I'm sure if you have an old one with white logo no one would be the wiser.
TxSquarebody
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Max06 said:

They're white logos this year. You're supposed to buy a new one but I'm sure if you have an old one with white logo no one would be the wiser.

Wine glasses stayed the same. Not for beer though.
halibut sinclair
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redd38 said:

Do I have to buy a new wine glass or can I use one from a previous year?
El Cheapo, eh?
Eliminatus
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AG
Pretty sure it's been discussed before but I don't remember the answer.

Why can't this thing be pushed back a few weeks? A 10-15 degree drop I think would pay huge dividends in crowd size and retention. Especially families with little'uns.
TxSquarebody
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Eliminatus said:

Pretty sure it's been discussed before but I don't remember the answer.

Why can't this thing be pushed back a few weeks? A 10-15 degree drop I think would pay huge dividends in crowd size and retention. Especially families with little'uns.

Agree...as a sponsor, we were out there baking in the heat all day.
Goose83
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AG
You think it's bad now, you should have tried going back when it used to be held in the middle of the summer (who in the hades though that was a good idea). It was an absolute killer.

That said, it definitely needs to be moved back a couple more weeks, as this time of year is still a little too unpredictable as to the heat. Despite what many people in Texas think, alcohol (especially wine) and heat do not make for good bedfellows (something I know all too well from personal experience).
texasaggie04
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AG
I think it's always the weekend of the Arkansas game so there's never a conflict with home football. And it can be planned in advance.
techno-ag
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AG
Congrats to Ms. Farris, the Downtown Bryan Association and everyone else for another successful year. This is a great signature event for our community.
halibut sinclair
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It wasn't all that terribly hot.
KidDoc
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AG
Just about 10 degrees over typical for late September.

https://weatherspark.com/m/8783/9/Average-Weather-in-September-in-College-Station-Texas-United-States

Pretty hot.
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halibut sinclair
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You must not be from Texas. I'll take 94 over 104 any day.
DBA
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Well, if it's any consolation, DBA staff and the 500+ volunteers were hot and sweaty too! Prior to DBA taking over the festival in 2014, the City of Bryan had begun scheduling Texas Reds on the last full weekend of September. We kept that date, largely because of the Texas A&M/Arkansas game being out of town for the forseeable future.

It's a huge challenge to schedule a large event on a weekend when there aren't other major events taking place, not only locally, but regionally. Someone mentioned there were some 30 fairs/festivals taking place in Central Texas this past weekend, which explains why it's tough to get more vendors. The good thing is that there are plenty of shops and restaurants to duck into for an A/C break. We also opened the Queen on Saturday for free classic cartoons, giving folks another option to cool off.

As always, we appreciate feedback. Thanks to all who came downtown and don't wait a year until you come back. Our merchants are here year-round!

redd38
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AG
It wasn't so bad when the sun went down, but they stopped serving when the sun went down. It should run till like 10pm so we have a few hours of cool drinking.
DBA
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Serving under the tasting tents ended at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Satellite bars remained open until the concert ended. The winery representatives serve non-stop from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. Most wineries bring only one or two reps, so they're ready to shut down after 9 hours on their feet.
redd38
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AG
DBA said:

Serving under the tasting tents ended at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Satellite bars remained open until the concert ended. The winery representatives serve non-stop from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. Most wineries bring only one or two reps, so they're ready to shut down after 9 hours on their feet.


So you're saying we need to replace the wine reps with robots?
Wicked Good Ag
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I would move it til Spring if you are worried about competing against football season and festivals

We haven't gone the last few years not because of anything but the heat. Also maybe try to bring in vendors for beer on Saturday and different ones on Sunday
We found they ran out of product last time and nothing to replace
DBA
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We're all going to be replaced with robots sooner or later, redd.
TxSquarebody
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It's always a fun event, and we will be sponsoring again. I'd be interested in knowing how vendor sales are on Sunday. It seems that eliminating Sunday from the schedule might be ok. Move the brunch to Saturday, keep the event going until 10pm, move the concert stage over to where the Texas Reds "arch" is so beer and wine patrons can hear.
Just some ideas.
barefoot
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Congrats to all of DBA, Sandy, Katelyn, and ALL the volunteers from all the organizations! I have not been in years and had a great time this year. Great crowds, the steak was superb and I could not have been more pleased. Kids had a good time though they did wish there were a FEW more bounce houses. All in all, great job at working with what you had, and being creative at that. A festival of this magnitude is not an easy feat to pull off and you'll always have complainers, regardless of what is offered. Congrats and keep up the good work...we'll be back!

oh, and keep bringing Texas Unlimited Band back!
gopitt
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Totally impressed with Downtown Bryan and it's growth, redevelopment, building upgrades and it's plentiful bars, restaurants and other activities. What a great place to spend a weekend! Finally a solid downtown for B/CS.
musicforall
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Not sure many of the arts and crafts vendors would show up if it was just one day - too much of a risk to make the drive and set up and then bad weather on one day ends it all. The arts vendors were a good mix this year of very inexpensive to expensive but worth it.

I thought it was was very well done, just wish that more people knew that if they had bought their tickets online they could go directly to the tents and not stand in line at the ticket booth. I liked how the beer tent was set up like a bar, with the reps at the tables, but also liked being able to meet the vintners and talk to them about their wines. Loved meeting the College Station winery, Lone Hen!

Cannot speak to the steak experience, we always eat at a restaurant to get out of the heat and give us a break between the tents.
TxSquarebody
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Lone Hen is amazing! My wife only goes to their booth for the "Bubbley".
Wicked Good Ag
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How far apart were the beer and wine tents this year??
Wife into wine and I am more craft beer so when we went together we had to separate and meet up once we got our drinks. Also I wonder if they would do a mix of beer and wine tickets instead of just beer and just wine since same price
We try to hit this every other year but this year we missed so might try the Texas Monthly BBQ fest in Austin in Nov
marrocco
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The wine tents were along W.J. Bryan, with one east of Bryan Ave. and one west. The beer tent was to the north on Bryan Ave. They were roughly equidistant.
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