Pictured, Das Ist Lusting, along with guests “Jeremy” and “Lacy” perform at last year’s German Heritage Festival.

Scheduled for March 27-29, the event will feature five stages of live music and more than 150 vendor booths in downtown Tomball near the Historic Depot, and authentic German food and beverages.

The Tomball Sister City Organization puts on the German Heritage Festival, whose chairman, Grady Martin, said the festival is quickly turning into one of the more popular such events in Texas.

“It’s getting to be one of the best street festivals in Texas,” he said. “It’s very family oriented.”

Martin said that while famous German beer will surely be an attraction for adults, there will be “lots of things for kids to do,” including a carnival, petting zoo and pony rides.

New this year is a City of Tomball-sponsored bicycle ride, beginning at 8 a.m. at City Hall. Registration for the ride begins at 6:30 a.m. The cost is $30 per rider, which benefits the Wheels of Justice campaign.

The festival kicks off this Friday at 6 p.m. and runs until 10 p.m.

Live acts through the weekend will include Alpenfest, Chris Rybak, Walburg Boys, Tuba Meisters, Round Top Brass Band, Das Ist Lustig, Terry Cavanaugh, Kenny James, and many more.

Saturday events begin at 10 a.m. with the “tapping of the keg” and continue through 10 p.m. with an awards ceremony for German exchange students, a presentation by Mayor Gretchen Fagan, and a nighttime fireworks display at the Depot.

On Sunday, a German church service will be held at 10 a.m.

Martin expects this year’s festival to bring in more than 10,000 attendees over the weekend. With attendance growing each year, Martin said he hopes the German Festival will put Tomball on the map when it comes to the most recognizable German heritage cities in Texas.

“When people think about Germans in Texas, New Braunfels comes to mind, Fredricksburg,” he said. “We’d like people to include us.”

Martin said those who regularly attend German festivals say Tomball’s event is among the best.

“People who visit other German festivals in Texas love it and say it has a unique character of its own he said. And we have visitors from Germany every year. The real Germans love it, too. They understand our festival is a Texas-style German festival. After all, we’re Texans.”

The German Heritage Festival is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.tomballsistercity.org.

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