ELBERTA, Ala. — They will come from far and wide on Saturday, just as they do on the last Saturday of March and October every year.

Tens of thousands of festival-goers turn this town into the biggest in Baldwin County on those days. The Oct. 31 edition of the German Sausage Festival will be “bigger and better” than ever, according to Steve Kirkpatrick, fire chief and councilman in this town known for its German heritage and a certain secret recipe.

Kirkpatrick said the Elberta Volunteer Fire Department will be cooking 7,000 pounds of German sausage for sale at Saturday’s festival, while Farm Fresh Meats in Robertsdale is preparing another 7,000 pounds of raw sausage for sale.

While Saturday’s festival from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (free admission) in Elberta Town Park will include some 200 arts and crafts booths, German music, dancing and carnival rides for the kids, make no mistake about: The star attraction is the German sausage whose recipe was created in 1953 by Alfred Stucki, who was Elberta’s Locker Plant manager. Today, the recipe is in the hands of Farm Fresh Meats.

Kirkpatrick said the German Sausage Festival typically draws 40,000 to Elberta on a festival day, and this time around they’re hoping for a little cooperation from Mother Nature.

“The last one was a tough festival,” Kirkpatrick said of March’s festival, which was a rainy day.

While the sausage might the top dog, it isn’t the only thing on the menu. Festival-goers can enjoy everything from hamburgers to red beans and rice and German style filled cabbage and potato salad. Likewise, music lovers can sample everything from German music and polkas to country.

As always, proceeds from the German Sausage Festival benefit the Volunteer Fire Department. EVFD took delivery of a new half-million dollar engine/pumper last year, Kirkpatrick said, and proceeds will go toward paying off the truck.

Parking for the German Sausage Festival will be at the elementary school on the east side of town and the VFW. BRATS will be on hand to use their buses to shuttle festival-goers to and from the downtown area to their vehicles.