All the beer you can drink, all the food you can eat, tons of musical entertainment, and thousands of people having a good time.
That describes “Brews in the Village,” the annual festival to raise money for Childrens’ Advocates Resource Endowment (CARE), which donates 60% of money collected to endowment funds and the remaining 40% to local charities, according to bakersfieldbrews.com.
The festival brought together over 60 breweries, more than 20 wineries, about 30 restaurants and over a dozen musicians, including Buddy Alan Owens and the Buckaroos, and Mento Buru.
I have planned on attending “Brews in the Village” ever since I turned 21 about a month ago, and Sept. 9, I finally got my chance. I paid $50 for a ticket and hoped all the hype about the great event was true. I thought the price may have been a little steep, but I didn’t end up spending a dime inside the gates. The food, drink, and entertainment was all included, which ended up being about the same price, if not cheaper, than a Saturday night out on the town.
When entering the event you receive a card numbered to 15 and a novelty glass for the breweries or wineries to fill with beer or wine. There were many breweries from the local Lengthwise company up to Budweiser and Corona. Each company had a booth with signature beer or wine. They fill your glass, mark your card and you drink the alcohol. The point of the experience is not to get fall down drunk but to sample drinks you may not have before.
I like beer, I am partial to dark beers, and I am not a wine connesueir. While at the festival I sampled many brews, I liked most of them and I loved some. Lengthwise makes some very good dark beer along with the San Luis Obispo Brewing company. I also tried Hieneken Dark, which was very good, but none of them could steal my love for Michelob Amber Bock, although I do plan on visiting many of the breweries I sampled beer from.
The event also had some very great restaurants handing out free food. I sampled some cookies from Cookies by Design and some awesome chicken from Mike’s Raging BBQ. There were many other eateries, but honestly, I wasn’t very interested in the food.
One thing I learned that night is drunk people will dance to any song they have ever heard. It really doesn’t matter if they like the song, they know the words, or if there is any rhythm to the song, they will dance. While waiting to see Buddy Owens, there was background music from a CD. Everyone from 21 to 60 around me was dancing, or attempting to dance, and when Buddy and the Buckaroos started to play, they danced more and started to sing, or screech, or yell along.
Buddy Owens and the Buckaroos performed an amazing tribute to the late Buck Owens, which in my opinion was worth the $50 alone. The band performed many country favorites and played some Buck Owens hits, including “Streets of Bakersfield,” along with “Tiger by the Tail,” and four or five more of Buddy’s father’s songs. The mostly Bakersfield crowd was very into the show and cheered for Buddy Alan Owens and the Buckaroos to return next year.
After finally being able to attend the great “Brews in the Village,” it definitely lived up to the hype. I tried new beer, ate great food, and watched many great musicians. I honestly couldn’t make it through the entire event in one night to try all the brews I wanted to, or see all the musicians I would have liked, so I guess I will have to try again next year.