Salsa Fest!

Free Live Music 5-10pm

Block Printing 5-7pm

Salsa Tasting 5-7pm

Salsa Awards 7:45pm

Food Truck - Bakery JoJu Wood-fired Pizzas

Bovine Sounds 5-7:45pm

Travis Pierce Band 8-10pm

Up to 20 Business-sponsored Salsa Makers.

Salsa Tasting opens 5pm, closes 7pm, for ticketed Tasters only. 

Tasters Choice awards ceremony 7:45pm. 

Schreiner University Communication Design Department block printing booth

August 29, 2026

The first Trailhead Beer Garden Salsa Fest is in the history books!  

A sellout crowd tasted 27 salsas from 15 local makers all representing local businesses and organizations.  Combined with a huge lift from our sponsors, together we raised $14,000 for the Doyle Community Center.

One of our makers, Center Point ISD Bistro, was awarded gift certificates to the Plant Haus 2 for toward the purchase of homegrown ingredients to add to the Bistro's offering.  Other winners, based on a total of 400 votes from 200+ tasters:

RED SALSA Category:

Honorable Mention (17 votes) - Riverside Nature Center

Honorable Mention (18 votes) - Shim's Be Blessed Catering

Honorable Mention (20 votes) - San Saba Cap Co.

3rd (21 votes) - Vecinos

2nd (22 votes) - Arreola Ranch

1st (30 votes) - Central Provisions

GREEN SALSA Category:

Honorable Mention (13 votes each) - Hill Country Men's Health and Central Provisions

Honorable Mention (14 votes) - Schreiner University Hospitality

Honorable Mention (16 votes) - Rancho Arreola

3rd (27 votes) - Vecinos

2nd (30 votes) - NAPA

1st (54 votes) - Tailchasers Patio+Pub

Huge thanks to Jacobi Caldwell and Schreiner University Songkeepers for sound support, our bands Bovine Sounds and the Travis Pierce Band, wood-fired pizza vendor Bakery JoJu, Trailhead staff, our chip slingers Carolyn, Stan, Mary, and Jack, Schreiner University Community Design Department block printing crew, photographer Mackenzie Wade Partida (Stillstone Photography), Justin Tenery and ProServe for the chip warmer, and Doyle Community Center executive director Rae Cardenas for their efforts to help make this thing roll!

And an even huger thanks to our sponsors! 

Peterson Health

KPUB

Schreiner University

Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country

Photo Gallery by Mackenzie Partida/Stillstone Photography - https://stillstone.passgallery.com/-salsa-fest-2026/gallery

August 25, 2026

16 Makers

28 Salsas

Center Point Bistro - Red & Green

Vecinos - Red & Green

Pint & Plow Brewing Co - Red & Green

Rancho Arreola - Red & Green

Trailhead Beer Garden - Red & Green

Schreiner University Hospitality - Red & Green

NAPA - Red & Green

San Saba Cap Co - Red

Tailchasers Patio Pub - Red & Green

Shim's Be Blessed Catering - Red & Green

Garrett Insurance - Red

Riverside Nature Center - Red & Green

ProServe FSR - Red

Bakery JoJu - Red & Green

Hill Country Men's Health - Green

Central Provisions - Red & Green

PRESS RELEASE

August 3, 2026

Trailhead Beer Garden will host its inaugural Salsa Fest on Saturday, Aug. 29, from 5 to 10 p.m. at the venue's location at the end of the Kerrville River Trail on the Schreiner University campus.

The event is modeled after Trailhead's Pot O' Hot Fest, the winter soup cook-off now in its third year, but flips the format for peak summer heat.

"Pot O' Hot proved this town shows up for a good cook-off," said Jeremy Walther, owner of Trailhead Beer Garden. "Soup in the dead of winter works well, why not salsa in the dead of summer?"

Up to 20 business-sponsored Makers will compete in Red and Green salsa categories. Ticketed Tasters will sample the entries, vote for their favorites in the Tasters Choice awards, and receive a commemorative holding tray, bottomless chips, and entry into a prize drawing. Salsa tasting runs from 5 to 7 p.m., with the awards ceremony at 7:45 p.m.

Taster tickets are $15 each. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Doyle Community Center.

"The Doyle Community Center is a trusted space and resource for folks in the neighborhood," said Rae Cardenas, executive director of the Center. "We’re doing everything we can to help residents in the Doyle neighborhood who were impacted by the second flood this year. Many of them don’t have the resources to rebuild and get back into their homes — we're grateful for support to help our neighbors return to their homes."

The festival will feature free live music from 5 to 10 p.m., including performances by Bovine Sounds from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and the Travis Pierce Band from 8 to 10 p.m. The Schreiner University Graphic Design/Communications Department will host live block printing demonstrations from 5 to 8 p.m., with custom merchandise available for purchase.

"Collaboration is the spicy sauce of community," Walther said. "Every Maker is sponsored by a local business, so it becomes about the whole community showing up together for a fun event that supports a community cause."

The event is rain or shine, with the Lewis-Robbins Pavilion serving as the rain location. Bakery JoJu will be selling wood-fired pizzas during the event.

Sponsors for this year's event include the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, Schreiner University, Peterson Health and KPUB.