The 38^th Annual LPL Bratfest was held on Saturday, November 12. This year’s Fest was BRATLAS V themed, celebrating the successful launch of OSIRIS-REx (onboard an Atlas V launch vehicle). The event was organized by the graduate students, who kicked off the weekend by baking 25+ cheesecakes and a couple of apple pies, as well as making planet-themed piñatas of questionable structural integrity for the children of the Fest to enjoy. Bratfest attendees consumed 300+ brats throughout the night, and also tapped the keg of graduate student-brewed hard cider. The cider was a product of the newly founded “Bratfest Brewing Company (BBC)” and this year’s brew was named “O-CIDER-IS REx”. It featured an ABV of 5%...but the error bars on that number are likely quite large. Despite the event being late in the season, we still managed to have plenty of fresh ears of corn to go around. And, in fact, a mix-up with the order meant we went from unlikely to get the 2-3 requested cases of corn as of Thursday afternoon, to having 23 (!!) cases delivered to Tucson for the festivities. So, if you see a sale on corn around town this week, we’re the reason why. The night ended with karaoke for the first time in recent Bratfest memory, featuring singing by the graduate students’ fake band named “Chaos Terrain.” 

The night kicked off with polka music from accordion player Stephen Yool (UA professor of geography).

Attendees of Bratfest 38 enjoying their food and drink.

Members of "Chaos Terrain" serenading Bratfest with their karaoke.