Germanfest is the unofficial kickoff of Fort Wayne’s summer festival season. The week long celebration is a celebration of Essen, Trinken, und Gemutlichkeit (“Eating, drinking, and having a really good time”!) While Fort Wayne residents and visitors alike love to do all three, the festival also celebrates the German heritage many Fort Wayne residents share.  Fort Wayne is often be referred to as “A Most German City” because of its strong German ancestry.

The festival, which began in 1981, will take place June 2-9 at Headwaters Park in downtown Fort Wayne.

Throughout the week several events will take place that you don’t want to miss.  The Beer Stein Relay Race (you know you want to try it) gives you the opportunity to combine your love of running, friends, and beer on Friday night. Be sure to bring your camera and your sense of humor.

Want to embrace your inner Lucy Ricardo? Then check out the Trauben Tromp (Grape Stomp) on Saturday June 9. Grab three friends and prepare to stomp over 300 pounds of grapes.

After you’ve stomped all of those grapes, why not learn to polka? Patrick Didier and the American Styles Ballroom Dance Studio will be giving free lessons in the Germanfest Festival Pavilion.  Traditional German bands will play throughout the week as well.

Did we mention the food?  Be sure to bring your appetite when you come to Germanfest.  Traditional German food and beverages will be available for your enjoyment as well!

Germanfest opens at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday June 5 with admission of $2 from 2:00-5:00 and $5 admission after 5 p.m.  Minors must be accompanied by parents.  No one under 21 permitted after 9:30 p.m.  Parking is available in the city lot next to Headwaters Park.

Beer is like a lot of things in life – when you’re young (or don’t know any better), you settle for the cheap stuff. As you get older, though, your tastes refine and your wallet gets a little thicker. I remember drinking in my college days, and I certainly wasn’t drinking craft beers. My weekend nights probably went a little something like this: Hey, what’s in that keg? Really? I can drink that? How much? Free? Pass me a red Solo cup!

But you don’t have to live that kind of meager existence, not when you can attend Beoir Go Leoir (Gaelic for “lots of beer”), an upcoming craft beer festival sponsored by JK O’Donnell’s, one of Fort Wayne’s favorite bars. The beer will be flowing freely on Saturday, May 18 from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Over 75 breweries will be represented here, and many of them will have folks on hand to answer your questions. Those breweries will have over 150 craft beers to sample, and the beauty of it? The samples are unlimited! But don’t worry –  you may have to pay to drink, but your designated driver gets in for free.

General admission tickets are $40 and include a commemorative tasting glass. VIP tickets are $65 and include that commemorative glass and early admission (an hour earlier, at 1:00 p.m.), a tasting glass lanyard, a T-shirt, appetizers, and special beer tastings. But be sure to order your tickets now: Day-of ticket prices are more expensive – $50 for general admission tickets and $75 for VIP tickets – and may not even be available.

Sorry, kiddos, this is a 21 and older event. All attendees, including DDs, must show a valid photo ID at the door. To purchase advance tickets, visit www.brownpapertickets.com or stop in to JK O’Donnell’s, 121 West Wayne Street in downtown Fort Wayne. For even more information, check out http://www.visitfortwayne.com/event/beoir-go-leoir or www.jkodonnells.com.

Located in the Allen County Public Library is the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, an incomparable resource for information about the life and times of Abraham Lincoln.

The historic collection is used by scholars, educators, students, Lincoln enthusiasts, and the general public. The collection has been widely cited in books and other media as a source of information and images. Most recently it was credited in Steven Spielberg’s movie Lincoln.

The LFFC at Allen County Public Library includes:

• More than 18,000 books and pamphlets, including books owned by Lincoln and his family
• Thousands of 19^th-century photographs, including the Lincoln Family Album Collection of photographs owned by the Lincolns and their descendants
• Manuscript collections, including the Insanity File related to Mary Lincoln’s commitment to Bellevue Place sanitarium
• Documents related to Lincoln’s youth in Kentucky and Indiana
• Extensive genealogical collections on the Hanks and Lincoln families
• election tickets, poll books, campaign literature, broadsides, and other political material
• 19^th-century maps
• Civil War diaries and letters
• Mid-19^th-century newspapers chronicling the Lincoln Administration, the Civil War, and Lincoln’s assassination and funeral
• Lincoln-related documents, including many signed by Lincoln.

One of the many original photographs featured in the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, this photograph is the last photo President Lincoln sat for before he was assassinated.

In addition, the extensive subject files of newspaper clippings, correspondence, and other materials comprise a trove of information available nowhere else in the world. 

Many LFFC materials are now online for the public to research, too. Located at www.lincolncollection.org, researchers have access to over 10,000 full-text books, pamphlets, newspapers, and subject files and more than 1,800 photographs – as well as – the collection’s art and artifacts housed at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis.

The LFFC at ACPL is open for research by appointment Mondays through Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  You can also ask questions by email or telephone. There are tours of the collection, as well.

To learn about programming and events, and to discover selected items from the collection, “like” the Lincoln Collection Facebook page, visit the Allen County Public Library website, or check out Visit Fort Wayne. For more information on LFFC, please contact Jgastineau@acpl.info or Amaynard@acpl.info.

This post is one in a series of Fort Wayne’s favorite celebrities: the Bad Apple Dancers! Click here to meet the rest of the bunch!

Bad Apple Dancer Brent Harring

Isn’t Fort Wayne lucky to have talented dancers in its midst? I’m talking about the Bad Apple Dancers of the Tin Caps ball team! Brent Harring, aka ‘Rizzle’, is one of the Fab Four. He gives us his take on Fort Wayne’s best places to go for a good time.

Hometown/State: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Besides working as a Bad Apple Dancer, I’m also a ticket sales manager for the Tin Caps. This will be my 6^th season

1. Favorite Fort Wayne restaurant? Pint and Slice
2. Favorite place to relax in Fort Wayne? The Deck when it’s nice out, Dash-In in the winter
3. Favorite thing to do in Fort Wayne: Other than dance on Parkview Field!? Run the trails on the Rivergreenway.
4. Favorite store/shop? Stoner’s for our Friday theme night costume ideas
5. Favorite Fort Wayne park? Lakeside is awesome!
6. Favorite Fort Wayne summer festival? Real close between Rib Fest and German Fest.  I’m approximately 63% German though, so I’ll go with that!
7. Favorite place to go for a burger and fries in Fort Wayne? Flanagan’s, anything on that menu is fantastic!
8. Favorite concert venue in Fort Wayne: The Embassy, though Snoop Dogg at Pierre’s in 2010 was probably the greatest concert I’ve ever been to in my entire life.
9. Favorite place to go for ice cream in Fort Wayne? Yo-Yo’s
10. What do you like most about Fort Wayne? Anything and everything that happens downtown! I live, work, and play downtown and you will find me here 95% of the time!

Thanks, Brent!

To order tickets for Fort Wayne TinCaps Baseball at Parkview Field call 260.482.6400 or learn more here.

Japanese Friendship Garden located at 303 E Main St was a gift from Fort Wayne’s sister city, Takaoka, Japan

Japanese culture may not be the first thing you think of when you think about Fort Wayne, but we’re going to change that. The Japanese American Association of Indiana, in partnership with Fort Wayne Dance Collective, Fort Wayne Sister Cities International Inc, Allen County Public Library, and IPFW-Japanese Saturday School will present the 7^th Annual Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival on Sunday May 19.  The beautiful Allen County Public Library’s main branch will be the home of this free event for the public.

The annual spring festival not only celebrates the blooming of Japan’s unofficial national flower, but also celebrates our city’s ties to Japan. Fort Wayne has been a sister city to Takaoka, Japan since 1977 and the US home for many Japanese companies. Opening ceremonies will include Minyo Japanese Folk Dancers, Suzuki Strings playing the Star Spangled Banner and the Japanese National Anthem, as well as an official proclamation from Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry.

Join us May 19 at the Cherry Blossom Fest!

A variety of artists and events will take place at the festival, including a variety of musicians, singers, and dance groups. Arts and crafts of the Japan Marketplace will also be available for your shopping pleasure.  Art contests and costume contests for students wearing costumes depicting their favorite anime character will also take place.  Enjoy the Tastes of Japan with sushi, yakitori, and Japanese goodies.  Hands on demonstrations of Bonsai, Origami, and Japanese Goldfish Catch will also take place throughout the afternoon.

Admission is free for the event and street parking around the library is also free on the weekends. Learn more here.