Wednesday, October 14, 2009
October has arrived and it brings with it the chill of approaching winter. In Germany, October means the arrival of Oktoberfest, a 16-day festival that draws six million people annually to keep warm by celebrating and drinking beer together.
There is no Oktoberfest in Kansas, but there is the Kansas City Beer Fest, which will feature more than 300 national and international brews and is expected to draw approximately 4,000 attendees.
Derek Topilko, Leawood junior, said he planned to attend the festival with his friends. He said he decided to go because he considers himself somewhat of a beer connoisseur, and looks forward to gathering with people.
“A lot more interesting things happen in bigger crowds,” he said. “That’s definitely for sure. It should be one intense event.”
But he said instead of drinking beer he will serve as the designated driver for his friends on Saturday.
For designated drivers like Topilko, the ticket for the festival will cost $10, but for his friends, it will cost $25 to purchase a ticket in advance and $30 to purchase one at the event. Ticket holders who plan to drink will receive a commemorative Beer Fest sampling glass to fill with unlimited three-ounce beer samples from the more than 65 participating breweries that will attend the event.
John Bryan, director of artisan brands at Boulevard Brewing, Co., helped found the Kansas City Beer Fest four years ago. The first Beer Fest was held at the Crossroads in 2006 and drew fewer than 100 people. But in 2007, because of more extensive advertising, Beer Fest attendance increased to 2,000 people. This year, more than 4,000 are expected to attend.
The Beer Fest is a fundraiser for the Kansas City Free Health Clinic and the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City. Joe Bellinger, special event director at the Kansas City Free Health Clinic, said that after its founding in 1971, the clinic sponsored a small beer festival called “The Beer Bust” to raise money. This is the first time, he said, a festival of this size has been held in the Kansas City area.
“This is the first large-scale festival that has been founded in Kansas City in about fifteen years,” Bellinger said. “It’s really the closest beer fest that you can go to that has this amount of beer.”
Bryan said he thought the best thing about the Beer Fest was that it offered the opportunity for craft beer drinkers to try many different brews in one place.
“When I go to a festival, I never sit and repeatedly try a beer. You know, I’ll come by and have a taste,” he said. “It’s like going to a liquor store and being able to sample everything that’s in the store.”
The Beer Fest will be Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Legends at Village West.
— Edited by Tim Burgess
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Comments
georgekaplan (anonymous) says...
And here's Wednesday's article about alcohol.
October 14, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jfuller (anonymous) says...
Actually there is an Oktoberfest in Kansas and it is this Saturday the 17th 10am to 7pm. It is held in Topeka and Fairlawn Plaza. On top of having tons of great food and drinks it benifits the German-American Club of Topeka and the Arthritis Foundation.
October 14, 2009 at 6:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )