Brew Fest!

Here are some shots from yesterday's Brew Fest at Library Park. The Brew Fest is a major annual fundraiser for Main Street Waterbury. It brings more than 2,000 people to downtown for the day; when they leave the Brew Fest at dinner time, they're all given maps to the restaurants downtown, and many of them, who come from out of town, make downtown hotel reservations so they can fully enjoy the Brew Fest.

First up, the classic car show outside the park on Grand Street:

 There weren't as many as usual. After the first heavy rain, they were gone.

Not part of the car show, this plate was in the ramparage.

The Brew Fest sold out in advance. The signs were a great idea--every year, after the last ticket is sold, people keep coming, begging to be let in.

 There were close to 300 brewers present. Fisch from Radio 104.1 had a tent set up as well.

The rain kept coming in short bursts. One minute here, three minutes there. A few times there was a torrential downpour, but most of the rainfall was pretty gentle.

Pretzel necklaces

Creative headgear at the Belgian tent

The Brass City Brewmaid made her annual appearance.

Presenters for the seminar on Beer in Revolutionary America.
They brought along beer brewed from George Washington's recipe.

Shock Top mobile tap. I tried their pumpkin wheat--very good, flavorful without any bitterness.

 

A couple thousand beer lovers in attendance.

Information booth for the Connecticut Beer Trail. More creative headgear.

It's a great event for beer drinkers--you can sample hundreds of
different beers, and talk to the brewers about them.

This is the one thing that I don't like about the Brew Fest. People stand around drinking under the tent, making it impossible for anyone to reach the beer. Granted, when I took this photo, it was pouring rain, but even when it isn't, they still crowd around under the tent.

People watching is half the fun of the Brew Fest
(at least, it is for me when I'm volunteering at the Brew Fest).

Happy people! I'd say the Brew Fest earned a thumb's up from the guy in the middle.

Newspaperman John Murray, publisher of the Waterbury Observer,
with camera gear in tow. He took some great shots of
Timmy Maia's performance at the Brew Fest.

Rep-Am reporter Andrew Larsen filming Main Street Waterbury Director Carl Rosa.
The final video can be viewed on the Rep-Am website.

T-Shirts! By the end of the day, there weren't many left. Main Street Waterbury also had souvenir glasses for sale--they sold out in less than three hours.