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GREEN BAY, Wis. — Smoke from portable grills filled the air with the smell of bratwurst on a recent Sunday in the parking lots that surround Lambeau Field.
People were gathered to watch the Green Bay Packers take on the rival Minnesota Vikings, but in a state and city where football is a staple of the culture, they were also there for the pregame tailgate and the experience of one of Wisconsin’s premier gathering places.
In one of the crowded lots, the Packers Tailgate Band meandered its way through lawn chairs and folding tables full of food. Brass and woodwind instruments carried the tune while a makeshift drum set mounted to a stroller kept the time. When the band played “Roll Out The Barrel,” a Wisconsin polka staple, people got up from their seats and danced.