If you have tickets to tomorrow’s 13th Annual Winter Beer Festival — uhhh…no you don’t. It’s been postponed, rescheduled for one week later due to extreme flooding alongside Fifth Third Ball Park in Comstock Park just north of Grand Rapids.
The Michigan Brewers Guild agonized over the difficult decision, but in the end had little choice in the matter thanks to the flood zone alongside the Grand River.
The festival is now slated for one week later on Friday, March 2nd and Saturday, March 3rd. All tickets sold for the original event will be honored for the rescheduled version.
Anticipated flooding on the Grand River in Comstock Park forced the Michigan Brewers Guild into the postponement of the popular Winter Beer Festival.
After meeting with the West Michigan Whitecaps staff and taking into consideration information provided by the National Weather Service and the Kent County Emergency Management team, the Guild’s Board of Directors decided to take a cautious approach and postpone the festival by a week to allow the Grand River to drop below the flood stage.
Rain was forecast for this morning and expected to contribute to the levels of the Grand River, which is expected to crest its 18-foot flood stage sometime this afternoon and rise as much as three feet above that over the course of the weekend. The Sheriff’s Department has issued Flood Warnings for that section of the Grand River until Tuesday, February 27.
Scott Graham is Executive Director of the Guild, he says, “We reviewed several contingency plans and discussed multiple options before coming to this decision,” adding, “but in the end the safety of our attendees, our breweries and volunteers is of utmost concern.”
Over 9,000 tickets had been sold for the festival, with a “Sell Out” status for tomorrow at 6,440. Friday tickets are still available for purchase for $45 in advance (www.mibeer.com/winter-festival) or $50 at the event at the main Whitecaps ticket office for the rescheduled version.
At this point, the Guild expects most of the 142-member breweries to participate in the rescheduled dates and the event to run just the same. A number of breweries from the Maker’s Trail in Michigan’s Great Southwest are expected to be a part of the event.
The Michigan Brewers Guild is the network of innovative and passionate brewers that serves as the recognized advocate for the Michigan craft beer industry. The mission of the Guild is to promote and protect the Michigan craft beer industry with an overarching goal to help craft beer acquire 20-percent of the market by 2025.
Michigan’s thriving brewing industry conservatively contributes more than $144 million in wages with a total economic contribution of more than $600 million. In terms of overall number of breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs, Michigan ranks #6 in the nation – thus supporting its claim as “The Great Beer State.”
The Guild posted this message on their website regarding the change:
Please understand that the decision to move the festival to next weekend wasn’t an easy one – this is new territory for our staff and volunteers but ultimately it is a SAFETY issue and not a weather issue.
Sadly, some are not going to be able to attend next weekend and we will be issuing refunds. THIS WILL TAKE SOME TIME…so please be patient with us as we work to get all the logistics dealt with over the coming days.
Given that we will be issuing some refunds, this means we will be able to release additional tickets for sale for the previously “sold out” Saturday. Again, this may take us a day or two, so please check back to the website for details.
If you are unable to join us or sell your ticket to someone else, please email info@michiganbrewersguild.org and we will issue a refund. Again, please note that it may take some time for us to get through all the requests and we appreciate your continued patience and ongoing support.
