Gloucester’s Stage Fort Park will transform into a sprawling beer garden on September 17 when the Blackburn Brew Fest makes its debut. The event will feature dozens of beverage companies, four food trucks, live music, lawn games, and sweeping views of Gloucester Harbor.
“Our vision is that people can drink local craft beer at Stage Fort, which is one of prettiest views in the area, while listening to awesome local music and eating awesome local food,” says Caitlin Pszenny, one of the event organizers.
The beverage lineup features unlimited samples of beer from area brewers including Lynn’s Bent Water, Essex’s Great Marsh, Beverly’s Channel Marker, Rowley’s Anonymous, Peabody’s Granite Coast, and many, many more. Salem’s Far From the Tree will be serving up hard cider and Gloucester’s Pigeon Cove Ferments will be pouring samples of its small-batch kombucha.
General admission tickets are $45, and include admission to the festival and samples from beverage vendors. A $10 designated driver ticket is available for attendees who will not be drinking alcoholic beverages.
Live music will be provided by Over the Bridge, a reggae-rock band from Gloucester that released their debut album this summer, hitting #1 on the iTunes reggae charts.
The festival was originally planned as an event for young area professionals to take place in 2020. COVID derailed that plan and the festival was eventually rescheduled for this year, which is, coincidentally, the 100th anniversary of the Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce. So the young professional group joined forces with the chamber.
“We were able to make it an even bigger and better event than we had hoped,” Pszenny says.
The festival, put together by Cape Ann young professionals group NEXTGEN Cape Ann, will raise funds for the Cape Ann Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization that makes grants to support the social, economic, and educational needs of the region.
For tickets and more details, visit blackburnbrewfest.com.