The warm weather likely inspired a higher a turnout for the festival.

“We could be pushing 6,000 people,” Schell’s Brewery General Manager Curt Van Asten said. He said this year there were 3,800 pre-sale tickets for Bockfest. The general admission tickets are typically a third or half of what they receive in pre-sale tickets.

Van Asten confirmed the warm weather was a benefit in setting up for Bockfest. Around 270 staff and volunteers assist in putting on Bockfest every year, but it is the attendees who make the festival special.

“It is a whole community effort to put this on,” Van Asten said. “They always take the festival and make it their own. Once 10:30 a.m. comes around, it belongs to the community. The staff is just here to support them.”

Schell’s President Ted Marti leads a small band through the Brewery grounds to kick off the 2025 Bockfest celebration.

One of the most popular events at Bockfest is the traditional hunt for the hidden goat head “bock” medallion hidden in the woods below Schell’s.

Heidi Rae and Phil Holtzleiter from Minneapolis were among the first in the door. The two immediately began looking through the Schell’s bock hunt clues.

Holtzleiter said he has been attending Bockfest since 2010 but has never found one of the bock medallions.

“We always try to find the bocks, but so far no luck,” Rae said.

“We’ve witnessed someone find it, but it has never been us,” Holtzleiter said.

Dozen gathered for the traditional burning of the wooden Bockfest goat.

Though the two would like to find one of the wooden goat heads hidden in the woods, neither is overly upset at not finding any.

“We do find free beer in the woods, so no complaints,” Rae said.

The free beer in the woods was provided by the “St. Bernard” teams wandering through the woods below Schell’s. The St. Bernards were volunteers who agreed to carry backpack keg through the woods to quickly refill the cups of those hunting for the bock medallions.

Joey Steinbach was one of the veteran St. Bernards assisting this year. Steinbach said he has been volunteering for nearly a decade. He took over the job after his father Tom Steinbach retired from the gig. This year Steinbach was assisted by his cousin-in-law Logan LeBert. This was LeBert’s first year as a Bockfest volunteer and his third year living in New Ulm.

“It is a great day with beautiful weather,” LeBert said. The only challenge for the day was navigating the hiking trail. Much of last Wednesday’s snow had melted creating muddy conditions on the Schell’s trail. It was easy to sink into the ground.

A group old and new friends give a cheer for Bockfest. (From L to R): Lynn Richason, Chelsey Schmidt, Nick Thiel, Marcus Schmidt, Jodi Renstrom and Sarah Hoobler. Chelsey Schmidt was regularly Bockfest attendee, bringing her friends Renstrom and Hoobler down from St. Paul to celebrate. Lynn Richason was new friend they met at the brewery. She said during Bockfest everyone becomes a “Bock Buddy.”

“The keg and backpack are about a third of my weight,” LeBert said. “I faced a little adversity early on, but it is fun keeping everyone’s cup full.”

Colorful costumes are a common site at Bockfest. Many come in group costumes to remain together. One group of friends from St. Paul and Cottage Grove attended in matching peacock ponchos.

“We’ve been doing this for three years,” Tanya Matheys of Cottage Grove said. “It is a tradition to change up the costume every year. Last year we were in pink and purple.”

Not every group changes their costumes from year to year. Tyler Hexum, Wade Persson, Drysen Carsten of South Dakota again attended Bockfest in women’s dresses. This was the seventh time the gentleman wore dresses to the festival. Persson said they have attended Bockfest for the last 10 years. The first year, they wore normal clothes. The second year they wore suits while their wives wore dresses.

“The third year we flipped the script,” Persson said. “We wore the dresses and the wives wore suits.”

Lucas Boomgarden (left), Jessica Gould (center) and Corie Spindler (right) enjoy Bockfest together. Boomgarden said this is his fourth Bockfest but it is the first Bockfest for Gould and Spindler

That year went so well that they never flipped the script back. The dresses brought so much joy to the other people at the festival they decided to keep doing it.

The group did lament the absence of one of their friend Brent Knoble who was unable to attend because brother Chris was undergoing cancer treatments. The guys brought along a life-size cutout of Brent Knoble in one of his Bockfest dresses to allow him to be there in spirit. The cutout included a QR code for anyone who wish to support Chris Knoble and his family.

The Bockfest festivities began at Schell’s Brewery, but the celebration did not end there. After the brewery closed, the party continue around New Ulm. An after Bockfest party was held at the Royal Oak Event Center featuring performances from Fat City All Stars and IV Play. Some traveled to New Ulm’s downtown and others celebrated at their local lodging.

Charlie Kellerman, Ted Tuborg and Jeff LaPointe and Brian Binstock of the Twin Cities held an annual tailgate grill out in the Best Western Plus parking lot.

Tuborg and LaPointe have been attending Bockfest since 2007. The two said was annual tradition for them. They only ever missed in 2021, during the year it was canceled for COVID.

Samantha Miller (left) brought her friend Mariah Koester (right) to her first Bockfest celebration. Koester said everyone was having fun and it was another example of a great Minnesota get-together.

This was the first Bockfest for Binstock, but he became a quick fan of the event, saying it was better than La Crosse, Wisconsin’s Oktoberfest celebration. He liked that the festival was held in the woods adjoining the brewery. It allows people greater freedom to celebrate the festival in their own way.

Whether hunting bocks, listening to music, or enjoying Schell’s beer the one thing each Bockfest goer had in common was a desire to socialize. For many, Bockfest was a chance to socialize with the community and see friends.

Shay Ubl, a former New Ulm resident now living in Des Monies, returned to New Ulm for the Bockfest celebration. Ubl said she made a point to return for New Ulm’s big festival. This year she made sure fellow New Ulm native Bridget Grathwohl to the festival, for whom this was her first Bockfest.

“Obviously Bockfest is a great time,” Grathwohol said. “It’s a wonderful mixture of local and out-of-town people. Where else do you get this collection of people hanging out in the woods,”

As a New Ulm native Grathwohl, was excited the see the festival bringing people to New Ulm.

“It’s just so nice seeing people walking around and appreciating New Ulm.”

Joey Steinbach serves as a Bockfest “St. Bernard.” He carries a keg on his back through the woods surrounding the brewery, refilling empty cups. Steinbach has been volunteering as a St. Bernard for nearly a decade. He took over the job from his dad Tom Steinbach.