The community will be awash in suds this weekend, as the Squamish Beer Festival will be on tap downtown on Saturday afternoon.
The event features craft breweries from close to home and afar, offering local beer aficionados the chance to sample some of the best brews in the west, and beyond.
“We’re bringing about 40 breweries this year,” says Kerry Farrell, the new manager for the event.
Farrell is from Ontario and says that while craft breweries are growing back east, microbreweries have been long established on the West Coast, which makes a beer festival a natural event for a community like Squamish.
“Squamish locals know a ton about beer,” she said.
As with any festival, organizers want to find the right recipe of familiar favourites alongside new tastes of tap.
“We do have a lot of new breweries,” Farrell said. “You want to keep it fresh.”
The event will feature music, games and activities for visitors. As well, the organizers will be bringing in some local food trucks to provide something for visitors to soak up the suds.
“We’re really just trying to get back to basics,” she added.
There will even be axe-throwing demonstrations.
“Beer and axe-throwing is very Squamish,” Farrell added.
The festival will feature more than 120 beers, with local favourites such as Howe Sound Brewing on hand. As well, the event will feature a couple of new Squamish breweries just starting up: A-Frame Brewing, which plans on producing Belgian, English and German-style beers, and Backcountry Brewing, which is expected to brew a pale ale, pilsner, IPA and seasonal beers.
There will be breweries from the Vancouver area participating, such as Powell Street Craft Brewery, Red Truck, Deep Cove, Parallel 49, Stanley Park and Russell. Other B.C. brewers include Phillips, Hoyne, Spinnakers, Old Yale and Fernie Brewing.
The festival will also feature some breweries from other provinces such as Steam Whistle and Mill Street from Ontario and Alberta’s Big Rock.
The festival is expected not only to attract locals but people from outside of town, so organizers want to make sure festival-goers can get to and from the event between Squamish and the Lower Mainland safely.
“We have a shuttle running from Vancouver,” Farrell said.
Beer festivals have been popping up more frequently in recent years. The website Canadian Beer News features a calendar that lists festivals and other beer-related events, including the Squamish Beer Festival. This weekend alone, there are nine festivals listed across the country, with still more spread throughout the summer.
As an article on the site says, “Beer festivals always present a great opportunity for new breweries to get their name in front of their target market.”
The festival takes place at O’Siyam Pavilion between 2 and 8 p.m. For more information, see squamishbeerfestival.com.
