Anyone Here Ever Organize a Beer Festival?

[Indianhead_Brewer]

Let me start with a little background here. Earlier this year I became a member on the board of directors for a local non-profit that is perpetually underfunded (i.e. - broke!). I joined the board hoping I could help an organization that is doing great things for our community and give back myself. Earlier this week we had a fundraising meeting and after having attended several of these meetings in the past with nothing fruitful ever occurring I opened my mouth and blurted out the words "craft beer festival" as a fundraising idea. I explained to everyone how beer festivals usually work (from the attendee's perspective). Everyone's eyes got big and agreed that this was a great idea to help raise funds. This idea hasn't been approved by the full board of directors, but I am guessing based upon the reception I got from the fundraising committee that this is going to be approved by the board this coming week.

Now for a little demographic info. We are located about 1.5 hours from Minneapolis, MN and 1.5 hours from Duluth, MN - two places where there is a substantial craft beer movement for the region. We aren't the largest community in the world and most people who drink beer around here prefer their good ol' Michelob Golden Light so it really wouldn't be locals we would be targeting with a beer festival. During the summer months though, our population at least doubles with people from the Twin Cities that own/rent cabins here. I mean you should see the steady stream of cars coming across the MN/WI border on a Friday afternoon. This is the demographic we would be targeting for a beer festival. It's this summer population that keeps a lot of people in business through the lean winter months.

I would really like to think that this crazy idea of mine will work, but I am pretty sure I am going to have to end up being the one to make things happen and it is going to be a lot of hard work. So what I am really looking for is some guidance from anyone on here that may have been/or currently is part of an organizing committee for a beer festival. Pointers? Tips? Where to start? Contacts? Any insight you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

 

[moti_mo]

I've been a part of one for three years running. I could give you some insights on our experiences if you want to PM me.

 

[Indianhead_Brewer]

Thanks moti_mo! I'll send you a PM.

 

[Yooper]

There is a guy (and his wife) in Eagle River, WI that started a beer festival a few years ago. They were homebrewers, and then went "pro", but are still involved in organizing the festival.

They own Tribute Brewing Company, in Eagle River, and I'm sure you could find their info online and send an email and ask some of those questions of them. Bill is super helpful and could probably give you a few pointers.

There are several beer festivals in the area yearly- Minocqua, Big Top Chautauqua, Eagle River, and probably more than I don't know of! They all seem to do quite well, and it sounds like you would as well.

http://bigtop.org/event/201big-tap/ For Big Tap Chautauqua

http://greatnorthernbeerfestival.com/ for Eagle River's festival

And the Lion's Club does the one in Minoqua: http://lacduflambeaubrewfest.com/

 

[Indianhead_Brewer]

Thanks for info Yoop! Definitely worth an e-mail to them to maybe get some insight. I wanted to go to both BigTap (this weekend) and The Great Northern Beer Festival but just not in the cards this year. There are a lot of festivals all around us, but the closest is 50 miles away with most being either in Minneapolis/St. Paul or Duluth (both 60-70 miles away).

 

[Phunhog]

My neighbor puts a very small(200 drinkers and 6 breweries) festival on 2x a year. It is to raise money for a non profit. According to him the biggest hurdle is your local city/town. He is limited to 200 guests because after that the costs( security, insurance) soar. The city technically calls it a "private party" since he is not allowed to advertise or sell tickets via a website. The cool part is that allows homebrewers to pour our beer. The non profit clears about 3K everytime.

 

[Indianhead_Brewer]

Thanks for the input Phunhog. These are exactly the sort of little things that are good to know. I wouldn't imagine we will have too much of an issue with our municipality, but these are all things to consider.

FYI - Phunhog this post just goes to show how small the world is sometimes. I looked at your nanobrewery page and saw that you are in Ventura. I was born and raised in that neck of the woods (Camarillo).