Bakersfield held the second annual Bako Taco and Beer Festival Sept. 28, at Stramler Park.

People had the chance to experience more than 65 different types of beer, from local to regional breweries as well as access to many vendors selling their best tacos in town and other items in their menu.

Beer, tacos, games, and a sunny day are the best ingredients for a good time.

Among locals, the event had some outside visitors, like Citlalli Mejia, a Northridge resident, who assisted with the festival along with four of her local friends. Mejia said she enjoyed the event because people in Bakersfield are more welcoming. “We enjoyed the beer fest, different type of beers, different kinds of tacos, and even though the lines for the food were pretty long, we had a good time. I like Bakersfield and their people because they are more down to earth,” Mejia said. She also suggested that the tacos should be in one area and beer in another to facilitate access to both.

Attendees had access to food trucks and stands that offered multiple kinds of tacos. The most popular was the salsa verde chicken tacos and the Asada tacos.

Jim Columbia who assisted with a friend revealed that he is a big fan of tacos and Mexican food. “Bakersfield has amazing Mexican food, it’s one of the good things of living here. I can go anywhere and get amazing tacos for a couple dollars a taco. There is a good variety of tacos and food to pick from, they just need to bring more to this event.” Columbia said.

Columbia also mentioned that he drinks according to the weather. “Depends on the weather, […] when it’s hot I want a lighter beer. It is about 80 degrees right now so I can have any of these IPA’s.”

Some of the most favored beers and IPA’s were Dos Equis, Firestone 805, Modelo, Stone, Rebel, Mas Agave and Estrella Jalisco.

The Bar Room Riot, a local band that plays alternative and blues were in charge of putting people on the dance floor. Body Soul and Mind were next, offering some good punk and R&B and finally Dubs Seeds to seal the deal. Dub Seeds and Mind Body and Soul travel together on tour to different places in California. Chris Taylor, Dub Seeds guitarist, and vocalist said that he likes these events because he gets to eat and drink all he wants, plus he gets to work with friends.  “We are like a family. We travel together to different places and I really enjoy this type of event, it’s really fun,” Taylor added.

In addition to the beer and tacos, the event also offered some Lucha Libre, which is professional Mexican wrestling. On one side of the park, a wrestling ring was installed where there were at least 8 wrestling matches to entertain the crowd.

“It was fun to watch these guys fight and do all kinds of funny things. I don’t know if it was real, but it was fun,” Ben Kitchen said.

Some of the attendees said that this is not what they expected because beer ran out fast and tacos were expensive but would try it next year.

“I wish I could have enjoyed more of the beers I usually drink but I couldn’t. The beer ran out fast and some of the stands were giving only half of cup, but overall it was good,” said Suki Mahal, who had the chance to try new beers.

Despite the long lines, prices and shortage of beer, people had a good time and some of them look forward to a better experience next year.