TexasCHLforum.com

Does anyone know if it's 30.06 since they sell quite a bit of alcohol? Later

I saw a ghost busters type sign at one of the gates last year. Other gates had no signs of anytype. I then contacted TABC to see if Wurstfest was a 51%. The local TABC agent told me they were. I suggested they update the signs to reflect the 51%.

I know the Wurstfest gets a cut of all the food sales and they charge $8.00 a head for tickets. Plus they get a huge cut of the parking on some of the lots.

I wondered if those things are counted in determining the 51% rule? If they did, I'm not sure they are truely 51%.

Another question I had, they also have other events there through out the year. Would the 51% apply then? They only sell beer for 10 days of the year!

To be safe, I would suggest to not carry.

The easy part is that the 51% rule applies for the duration of the license, which in this case is always. I was surprised to find just now that the Wurstfest Association has a regular beer and wine license, not a temporary for the festival.

The other part is a little harder. The law says that the 51% rule is if TABC determines they get 51% of their income from on-premise sales. Our application asks the people for the amounts of money from alcohol, food, and other. If TABC adds this together and gets the alcohol is 51%, then the law applies. If not, then they are not 51% and you can carry. It is important to note (and has been posted here before) that the sign is not a part of the law as it applies to you. Just the type of license issued by TABC.

The good news is that you don't have to trust the word of anyone. You can ask to see the license and see what it says. If it says "Sign=Red" then you cannot carry. The law requires the license to be visible to the public, though you will normally get some hassle if you ask for the license. The bad news is that the Association is probably not 51% if they reported the money correctly but TABC has no way to verify the figures. We go by what they report.

There is one ray of hope in this situation right now. If you find that they are licensed as 51% and you don't believe it is correct, you can file a complaint and protest the renewal of the license. You will be making lots of political enemies in New Braunfels if you do protest it, especially if it delays their renewal so they cannot sell during the festival, but you can do it.

Has anybody ever found an answer to the question by the OP?

pedalman wrote:Has anybody ever found an answer to the question by the OP?

I thought it was answered. They are 51% so a 30.06 sign doesn't matter. You can't carry.

Dohhhh! My question should have been:

Has anybody ever contested the renewal of this 51% license?

Sorry 'bout that, Chief.

we try to get out to wurstfest every year. Ive been going for a while and every year it is posted 51% with it in red. Now I dont know if they are truly 51% but I have seen some years where beer was flying and people passin out haha. I might be going this year if we cant get out to the real one (Oktoberfest)

xpur3l0g1cx wrote:we try to get out to wurstfest every year. Ive been going for a while and every year it is posted 51% with it in red. Now I dont know if they are truly 51% but I have seen some years where beer was flying and people passin out haha. I might be going this year if we cant get out to the real one (Oktoberfest)

Who are your favorite vendors? I will be taking my wife (who is German). maybe even my Mother in Law

My favorite vendors are the ones right outside of Wurstfest. Its the arts and crafts hall thing right across the street. Everyone will get you on beer prices except in there. I was getting them for 2 dollars a beer. They had just about everything. That was last year. If you dont do that then the prices are probly going up this year at the main bar in the "Big Tent". Its great though the atmosphere is good and the over priced beer steins are fun to look at. My wife is German as well. I never knew about It till I got with her. I might see you out there this year

Thanks for the info. I will be looking for the cheap (light......ARGH!!!!!!)beer. Heart surgery has made my beer drinking days fewer and farther apart. I will drink a few there though!

I am curious as to how they at Wurstfest enforce the 51%. The law clearly defines 'premises' as a building or portion of a building. Just where do the restrictions begin?

(3) "Premises" means a building or a portion of a building. The
term does not include any public or private driveway, street, sidewalk
or walkway, parking lot, parking garage, or other parking area.

PC 46.035 (f)(3)

Wheelgun,

Premises are defined differently in the Alcoholic Beverage Code and apply to the whole premise, including the parking lot and all structures and walkways. In the case of an event like the Wurstfest, it is everything inside the fence. This is why you see the 51 sign on the fence as you enter.

Since the Penal Code defines the premises for this section as the building only, you get into a conflict on the laws. I do not know how the court will resolve the conflict and would not recommend being the test case. I think the courts would look at the intent, which would be to stop the carrying where the beverage is sold and consumed. In the case of a festival, the beer is not sold in a building necessarily and can be carried and consumed in most of the festival. They will probably say anything inside the fence is forbidden, but I could be wrong.

If you are thinking about going consider these tips. On opening day, the festival starts around 5PM you get in free for the first 2 hours. The last day you get in free after 3PM. Here is a link to a buy 1 get one free from the Wurstfest web site http://wurstfest.com/2008/2008coupon.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Buy tickets before Oct 30th and you save 2 bucks per ticket. Buy at the gate and it cost $8.00 per person. You can call the toll free number on the Wurstfest website to confirm the free times just incase they have decided to stop their practice for any reason.

That coupon is only good for Nov 2-5. Those dates are usually considerably less crowded. The Wurstfest Association donates the gate proceeds on Tue night to charity (United Way I think). Of course the reason they donate that date is that the attendence is way low so in reality they really don't donate much. I guess if they really wanted to help a charity they could donate the take for a Saturday night, but that won't happen.

I'm not sure they are truely 51%. It may be close(or not), but there several things that make me at least question it. First, the high cost just to get in (8.00). They also get a high percentage (40%) of one of the busiest parking lots as they own the land. They take a good chunk of the sales from all the vendors, probably around 20%. There is allot of food sold there and it ain't cheap. When (2 people) have to drop over $20.00 to park and get through the gate, then buy food, it would take allot of beer to overcome that cost. Add to the fact that there is a fairly good family atmosphere does not help them get to 51%. Most kids don't drink beer at the Wurstfest, although some try. Plus the Wurstfest takes a good chunk from the carnival rides inside the gates. It all makes me wonder if they are truely 51%. And of course its small town politics and I'm sure they probably only report what they want you to see.

Since the 2009 Wurstfest is in full swing, I'll post an update here.

I was there with the family this past Sunday afternoon. The only signs I saw were those to the effect of "State law prohibits the carrying of weapons in here", with a reference to VCS 4413 (obsolete citation) on the bottom of each sign.

No 30.06 or 51% signs (valid or invalid) were on display.

I was not carrying my sidearm, due to the previous posts in this thread.

Makes me wonder if somebody actually challenged the 51% signs from the last Wurstfest.