WEST, Texas — "I think people missed it tremendously," organizer Ryan Kovar told 25 News.
Fun for the whole family will roll on throughout the weekend.
"The excitement has been unbelievable," Kovar said.
One of the big draws is the live music "Polka music," Kovar said, "tons of polka music Saturday and Sunday."
The Czech food so many people grew up with in Central Texas is what keeps festivalgoers coming back year after year.
"It's our heritage that our ancestors brought over," Kovar said. "It is going to be a lot of kolaches, sausages."
New this year, WestFest is bringing back the original beer steins.
"WestFest has always been in my household," said Kovar "Every year you start school and in a couple of weeks there's west fest and everyone's extremely excited!"
Locals are not the only ones who will show up for a good time.
"Really, from all over the world even from the Czech republic have visited our festival over the years," Kovar said.
WestFest started in 1976 to raise funds for the build things like athletics facilities for kids, a community center, and library in West.
Organizers have raised more than $986,000 dollars over the years.
They expect to surpass the $1,000,000 mark this year.
All the fun starts Friday night at 5:00 p.m.
For ticket information, head to their website.