INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Lederhosen, dachshunds and beer — Oh my! The 16th annual GermanFest comes to downtown Indy on Saturday.

The Athenaeum Foundation’s traditional festival serves as the cultural center’s largest fundraiser for the year.

President Craig Mince says they hope to continue the traditions and tell the stories of the German immigrants who settled in central Indiana in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

“Whether you’ve been here for The Y or The Rathskeller or Coat Check Coffee, funds from GermanFest …. go to maintain the building,” Mince said. “It’s like a sinking ship, right? Like we always got to plug up a hole somewhere. Those funds go to keep this building alive and thriving.”

The festival will expand with nine different vendors lined up to serve traditional food from brats to spatzle to pretzels. Organizers are hoping to cut down on wait times from previous years.

“As any kind of festival grows, lines get to be really long,” Mince said. “People — although they’re having a good time — they spend a lot of time in line. We’re doing our best this year to kind of bring that experience to a shorter line. Give people more capacity. We’ve got more offerings in the beverage world. We’ve got more offerings in the food world.”

All of GermanFest’s main-stays are returning like the sausage-eating contest and a stein-holding contest.

The ever-popular wiener dog races are also back. Now called the “Dachsund Dash” — twelve dogs will be split up into two heats followed by head-to-head races to crown a champion.

The Athenaeum is making the races a much bigger production this year. It includes a play-by-play announcer, slow-motion replays and LED screens for people across the festival to see.

Events Manager Diana Gingerich says they want to play into the spectacle of it all.

“People are usually on top of each other,” Gingerich said. “This year we’re really upping the ante and gonna make a full production with a crew of six or seven people taping the dogs.”

Tickets for adults are $15 online before Friday. Otherwise, admission is $25 at the door on Saturday.

All the GermanFest action kicks off Saturday at noon.