First Elgin Craft Beer Festival wants to be different
Editor's note: this story was updated to say that the St. Charles event is in partnership with Brew Avenue Events.
The first Elgin Craft Beer Festival on Saturday will offer something a bit different from similar fests that have popped up across the suburbs, organizers say.
The event from 1 to 5 p.m. on Riverside Drive Promenade, along the banks of the Fox River in downtown Elgin, will feature about 30 breweries, including some not typically found at area festivals, plus VIP ticket packages with extra perks, said organizer Alan Kirk.
The Elgin Breakfast Rotary Club is organizing the event and will donate the proceeds to four Elgin nonprofits: Taylor Family Branch YMCA, Ecker Center for Mental Health, Food for Greater Elgin and PADS of Elgin, Kirk said.
Consultant Chris Jacobsen, of Hardcore Craft Beer, said craft beers such as Ballast Point, Boulder Beer, Almanac Beer, Toppling Goliath Brewing and Alarming Brewing usually aren't part of the local fest lineup.
"I've been working on and going to festivals for years and, every single time you go, especially because we are at the end of the festival season, you see a lot of the same people come out with a lot of the same product," he said.
General admission tickets are $40 and include 20 beer samples and a commemorative glass. VIP tickets, at $60, also include earlier entry at noon, plus access to a seating area, additional beers, such as Stone Brewing, Surly Brewing, Lagunitas Brewing, and food from Elgin Public House and Grumpy Goat Tavern, both restaurants in Elgin, Jacobsen said. Those ticket prices apply to online sales; tickets at the gate are $10 more.
The general public can buy food from Golden Eagle Hot Dogs, Hopp Stop BBQ and Chooch's Pizza, and there will be live music by Chris Buehrle. Designated driver tickets are $15, which includes sodas and small bites.
The idea came from the success of the Tri-City Craft Brew Festival, which for the last two years has been organized by the St. Charles Breakfast Rotary Club, said Kirk, past president of the Elgin club. The St. Charles event is in partnership with Brew Avenue Events.
"I'm good friends with the president of that club, and he commented to me saying, 'You should try this out,'" he said.
About 80 volunteers are involved in the Elgin event. Tickets sales "are going well" and it is expected to attract about 1,000 people, Kirk said.
The craft beer craze has slowed down, but its market continues to grow, Jacobsen said.
"The community (in Elgin) could use something like this. It's fun, it's outdoors; I think downtown is kind of ripe for it and people are going to enjoy it."