Very few opportunities to sample the stellar line up of hand-crafted micro brews emerging from the Michigan craft beer scene can come close to matching the Weko Beach Brewers Festival and you’ll have the chance to learn that first hand in less than two weeks.
One of the best times to sample Michigan’s hand-crafted brews happens there each year and the 8th Annual Weko Beach Brewers Festival in Bridgman is slated for Saturday, October 14th from 1-to-7 pm, at Weko Beach, just off I-94 at exit 16. This year the popular fall event will feature 20 Michigan micro-breweries, 80+ beers, live music, and local food on the Lake Michigan shore with its grand finale sunset.
Event organizer and Greater Bridgman Area Chamber & Growth Alliance Executive Director Calli Berg promises, “Festival goers can sample award-winning IPAs, ales, lagers, stouts, porters, meads and hard ciders.” She adds, “We love putting on this event and being able to bring so many breweries together under one big top tent to showcase their craft brews.”
Participants at this year’s festival include the following:
- Arcadia Brewing Company
- Arclight Brewing Company
- B. Nektar Meadery
- Black Dragon Meadery
- Final Gravity Brewing Company
- Haymarket Brewery and Taproom
- Mountain Town Brewing Company
- New Holland Brewing Company
- North Pier Brewing Company
- Perrin Brewing Company
- Railtown Brewing Company
- Rochester Mills Beer Co.
- Round Barn Brewery
- Schmohz Brewing Company
- Short’s Brewing Company
- Silver Harbor Brewing Company
- Sister Lakes Brewing Company
- Tapistry Brewing
- Transient Artisan Ales
- Watermark Brewing Co.
Popular regional music performers will entertain audiences on the event’s main outdoor stage:
- 1:00 p.m.: Jack Adams and the Breakers will play a wide variety of classic rock and pop songs from several decades.
- 2:45 p.m.: Top Secret will perform its “get up and dance” music from the 1960s to the present.
- 5:00 p.m.: The Crawpuppies will bring their “power pop” lineup that made them the opener for Blues Traveler, Everclear, Bush, and The Counting Crows, among many others.
Local food vendors Lake Street Eats and Classic Catering will satisfy the crowds’ hunger with wood-fired pizzas, pot roast and pulled pork sliders, chicken tacos, Italian beef sandwiches, beer cheese soup, brats with sauerkraut, and more. Berg says that the festival is cash only and all guests will need to show a valid I.D. to gain entry. She adds that the festival does not permit coolers, backpacks, outside food and beverages, or animals.
Advance tickets are available until midnight Oct. 13 for $25 at the link below, as well as at Hardings in Bridgman, and many area breweries, or they will run $35 at the door. The fee includes admission to all festival events and 12 beer tasting tickets. The beautiful lake views and spectacular sunset are free.
Here’s the online link for tickets: http://www.wekobeachbrewersfest.com
Parking is available offsite with free shuttles from lots along Red Arrow Highway, but please take note, there will be no parking available at Weko Beach. Several participating hotels in Benton Harbor, St. Joseph and Stevensville are also offering free shuttles to the festival for their lodging guests. For a list of participating locations and reservation information visit Facebook.com/swmtc.
Sponsors and donors for this year’s festival include:
- Four Winds Casino and Resort
- Holt Bosse
- Republic Services
- Midwest Family Broadcasting
- Siemans in Bridgman
- Wightman & Associates, Inc.
Weko Beach Brewers Festival is an annual craft brewery event presented by the Greater Bridgman Area Chamber and Growth Alliance and Southwestern Michigan Tourist Council. For up-to-date information about the event, visit wekobeachbrewersfest.com, facebook.com/wekobeachbrewersfest, twitter.com/BrewersFestival or call 269.925.6301.
