beer

How to Plan Your Own Beer Festival [CHECKLIST]

How to Plan Your Own Beer Festival [CHECKLIST]

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top beer festivals

So you want to host your own beer festival? It sounds like a great idea — what could be easier than getting a bunch of people together to try some good beer?! We joke.

Planning a successful beer fest requires a massive amount of preparation. That’s why companies like BrewFest Success are popping up as professional beer festival planners for hire.

If you want to plan your own beer festival, however, don’t think it can’t be done! You just need to make sure you don’t miss a few crucial steps in the planning process. Here are some things to keep in mind to plan your own amazing beer festival.

1. Go By The Book

Obtain the necessary permits or risk getting shut down the day of the event. Before you get too ahead of yourself, check into every detail of your event and make sure you are following all city rules and regulations to a T.

Ensure that you have all the required permits to put on an event of this size and distribute alcohol. This is just as important to you as it is to the breweries. Rebekah Mutch, sales coordinator for Stone Brewing Company (an Evergreen customer) knows that many festival planners fail to properly address this important part of the process, recalling “I’ve ended up explaining the legalities to organizers, and it’s especially hard when it’s their first time.”

Stone is known for being extra cautious about what festivals they participate in, and for good reason- it’s the breweries who are liable for fines when they participate in events that aren’t licensed and run properly. So make sure you don’t lose the breweries you want at your festival by being an irresponsible planner.

2. Location, Location, Location

Picking the perfect location for your beer festival is crucial. Most importantly, you have to make sure the venue is large enough to hold the amount of guests and breweries you are expecting. For summer festivals, something outdoors is ideal.

You can’t beat enjoying some quality beer outside on a beautiful day. So try getting the permits for a nice park, a local stadium, a concert venue, or even just the big parking lot behind your brewery.

[FREE CHECKLIST] PRINTABLE BEER FESTIVAL PLANNING

3. More Than Just Beer

It goes without saying that to put on a beer festival you are going to need beer. But not just any beer — good beer. Local nano-breweries who will bring their new, rare offerings will be a bigger hit than the macro-breweries.

These craft breweries will also bring with them a strong and loyal following of beer lovers. But a solid spread of good beer is not all you need. Get food vendors to serve up their tasty fare as well. Trust us, you want your festival-goers to be consuming something other than just beer the entire day. Food trucks are a great, easy and not to mention trendy, way to offer a great selection of food at your festival.

4. Other Important Party Guests

Hiring entertainment at your event will give festival goers something to do in between tastings so they aren’t stuck in that “all-out-sprint-mentality” to sample every beer within the 4 hour time-frame. Having some entertainment, like a local band, will give them something to break their day up. Check out the webinar for more ideas on great events for a craft beer crowd.

5. Ready, Set, Promote!

The last piece of the puzzle… getting people to buy tickets and come! Advertising your festival is the most pivotal part of the planning process. Promote it at any bars, breweries, and restaurants that you possibly can- anywhere beer connoisseurs may be.

Tap into local media outlets who will happily promote the local breweries that will be at your festival. And lastly, don’t forget to use social media to promote your event! Word of mouth is how beer lovers learn the next place they must be on the beer circuit.

[HOW TO] LISTING EVENTS ON YOUR WEBSITE

6. Hope For The Best, Plan For The Worst

Don’t forget to cover all your bases. What will inevitably come with an all-you-can-drink beer tasting event?

Drunk people. What should you do? Read our tips for handling intoxicated patrons and hire security.

Taking care of this will ensure that all your festival goers are safe and nobody’s day is ruined. You will also need to distribute lots of water, especially at hot summer festivals.

Make sure water distribution tents are easy to find and access so that guests don’t have to go out of their way to get some much needed H2O. Stock up on this liquid gold so you don’t run out when parched festival-goers are in need. This is one of the most frequently forgotten, yet crucial components of a successful festival.

Final Thoughts

No amount of exhaustive planning can account for the wrath of mother nature. Check the weather forecast so you know what to expect. Also, make sure you know how many people you can physically support, and sell that many tickets. You don’t want a mob of angry beer enthusiasts breaking down the festival gates because they can’t get into your oversold event. Last but not least… you can never, I repeat never, have enough porta-potties.

[CASE STUDY] OUR DRINK SALES WENT THROUGH THE ROOF

Craft Beer Economics: Mixing Business with Pleasure

Craft Beer Economics: Mixing Business with Pleasure

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Drinking beer is no longer just for fun.

Cities across the nation are utilizing the craft beer industry to boost economic growth, creating a booming culture driven equally by profit and pleasure. Here is a look at three locations that are ‘tap’ping into this lucrative industry.

Colorado

This state is setting the standard across the nation for how to turn the once leisurely activity of drinking beer into a massive force to fuel their economy. A study by the University of Colorado Business Research Division for the Colorado Brewers Guild reported that the craft brewing industry pours more than $400 million into the state’s economy and has created almost 6,000 jobs.

Dave Thibodeau, CBG president explains, “CBG brewers are the catalyst for creating an electric beer culture, while contributing to entrepreneurial activity, and spurring beer tourism throughout the state.”

In the political arena, Colorado brewers have stepped up to kill legislation that would hurt their growing industry. Crushing a proposed bill that would have allowed local grocery and convenience stores to sell full-strength beer ensured that the market for local nano-breweries would be protected and sent a clear message that craft beer lovers didn’t want their diverse beer selection being threatened by the big guys.

Asheville

Of all the locations across the nation how was Asheville, North Carolina victorious in luring the country’s second and third largest breweries- Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and New Belgium Brewing to their town? Ben Teague, Asheville’s executive director of economic development explained, “You have to have property, you have to be economically competitive. But there are the other intangibles.”

Asheville pitched their city’s quality of life closely connected with nature- its access to the nearby river, its beautiful scenery and its outdoorsy yet thriving culture. One selling point for New Belgium was that Asheville was a place where their workers could enjoy biking or walking to work.

Sierra Nevada communications manager Bill Manley explains, “We really feel that the culture here is just a really important part of how we make our beer, how we get inspired.” Asheville’s lesson to us all is that being true to itself and its values was how this city was able to snag two of the biggest fish in the industry and now their local economy is benefiting from the ripple effect created by the growth of their brewery scene.

Businesses have begun incorporating local beers into their products. Microbroo LLC makes Broo Shampoo using Highland beer and the folks at Crooked Condiments make mustard out of Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co.’s porter. Chelsea Madison, a partner at Crooked Condiments explains “Our best selling point is to say this mustard is made from a local beer,” she said.

“Customers identify with the quality and craftsmanship, and that reflects on us.” Industries in Asheville are building off of one another’s success in an exciting way that makes this city’s economic future look extremely promising.

Philadelphia

People aren’t just coming to the city of brotherly love to see the Liberty Bell and grab a cheese steak anymore. Philadelphia has embraced it’s thriving craft beer scene and developed multiple tourist attractions that revolve around the industry.

There’s a craft beer tasting trolley, a craft beer bus, the “craft beer express” pub crawl, numerous craft beer and food pairing events, and more brewery tours than you can count. Philadelphia couldn’t even keep it’s annual Philly Beer Week down to 7 days so its festival has evolved to an all out 10 day beer frenzy.

Philadelphia was the first city in America to hold a citywide celebration of its craft beer scene. Since its first festival in 2008, beer weeks have sprung across the country as numerous other cities have realized just how much their economy can benefit from the tourism generated by these massive events. Nothing says business and pleasure like a beer festival that attracts crowds in the thousands to your city.

The craft beer craze is spreading like crazy from city to city across the country. Keep an eye out for our next look at up-and-coming craft beer hubs that are sweeping the nation!

Cheers!

-Kristen Rosas

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