Bockfest may just be Cincinnati's weirdest festival — an annual celebration of spring, bock beer and the city's brewing heritage. The 27th-annual Bockfest takes over downtown and Over-the-Rhine March 1-3 with a plethora of activities, starting with a parade, which will step off from Arnold's Bar & Grill at 6 p.m. March 1.
Each year, the gender-neutral Bockfest Sausage Queen has the honor of leading the Bockfest parade — along with some guys dressed like monks walking with a goat pulling a keg of bock beer — carrying a symbolic tray of Brew City and Avril-Bleh Sausage Bockwurst.
In the weeks leading up to the Bockfest festival, there is a series of Bockfest Sausage Queen preliminary competitions. And the first preliminary competition will be held at Arnold’s this weekend (Feb. 2) with sign-ups starting at 8 p.m. There will be three rounds: a Q&A, sausage tray modeling and a talent portion.
The Sausage Queen is judged based on his/her/their personality, presence and talent.
- Personality is defined as: "All contestants are required to have one, and having a good one is typically helpful. The sum total of a contestant’s personality is arbitrarily judged by his or her responses to a series of ridiculous questions."
- Presence is defined as: "The contestant must look good carrying a sausage and have diva tendencies. The winners of each preliminary round will represent that bar in the Sausage Queen finals. Therefore, you must possess the presence to fulfill this heady responsibility with honor, dignity, class, grace, or the complete and utter lack of any of these traits."
- Talent is defined as: "What kind of 'talent' should the Sausage Queen display? That is a question that only you can answer. Surprise us. (But be warned that after a decade of conducting this competition, it is getting progressively harder to surprise us.)"
The winners of the Sausage Queen preliminary rounds will compete in the finals at 9 p.m. March 2 to see who will be crowned the Sausage Queen (and Beard Baron — we have one of those, too; it's a guy or gal with the best facial hair) to lead the 2020 parade.
For more info on Bockfest, the Sausage Queen competition or a full schedule of events, visit bockfest.com.
