This fall’s weather has been phenomenal for outdoor activities and perfect for gatherings to participate in beer tasting, food truck sampling, music listening, games playing, and mingling with people. It’s an opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones. Several such festivals were held locally in recent weeks.
The latest to join the local lineup of beer fests was Acton’s St. Elizabeth of Hungary on Arlington St. and they called their event the Apple Valley Food Truck and Craft Beer Fest. October 4 was bright and warm, and the leaves of the birches and maples surrounding the church were beginning to turn yellow, red, and orange. The large parking lot behind the church was filled with activity. Starting at noon, guests arrived to find food trucks, beer vendors, children’s games, and a band playing. Tents were set up with picnic tables and chairs. Soon there was a long line at the Westside Creamery ice cream truck.
Sheila Bauer, religious education director of the church, helped organize the event. Starting in June volunteers began securing food trucks and beer sellers. Because of the late date, many food trucks were not available, but five did attend, as well as four brewers. Sheila said the church was looking for both a fundraising opportunity and to host a community gathering. Seven hundred fifty people attended, and planning for next year’s beer fest is already underway.
In late August, the First Parish Church of Stow and Acton had their fourth annual beer fest on church grounds in Stow. Back in 2019, three beer enthusiast parishioners, Neil Saunders, Dave Sansone, and Scott Feldheuson, decided to plan a beer fest for the following year. Covid intervened and finally, in 2022, the three, aided by over eighty volunteers, mostly from the church, launched the Assabet Craft Beer and Food Truck Festival. Having no experience in hosting this type of event, the staff was pleasantly surprised how well it went. All four years, the festival has enjoyed clear and seasonable weather. The event has grown and attracted over 2,000 participants this year and is one of the church’s largest fundraising events.
A few weeks later, also in Stow, the local Lions Club hosted a similar event, the second annual Autumn Food Truck Festival. The two-day affair, held on a grass field off Route 117, featured food trucks, music, and a station serving tap beer. The Lions Club was founded in Chicago in 1917 as a service organization, and its members were largely businessmen. Helen Keller spoke at a Lions Club convention in 1925 about the needs of the blind and since then the Lions Club focus has been just that. At their Festival, representatives of the Mass. Lions Eye Research Foundation, Perkins School for the Blind, and Carroll Center for the Blind attended as well as many other local charitable groups. The Lions Club Eyemobile, a medical RV, was there to test attendees’ eyes, ears, and blood pressure. Total attendance for the two days was 882, up from 630 for a one-day event the year before.
Kevin Mardorf from Connecticut began beerfests.com over ten years ago. He and his wife enjoyed visiting beer fests and realized that there was no easy way to search for such events. Covering mostly the northeast but listing some beer fests in other parts of the country, the website offers advice on setting up and running festivals and help with selling tickets. Kevin said that the number of beer fests dropped during Covid, and they have not recovered. Some longtime festivals permanently closed. The general trend to drink less has also hurt many beer fests and, to help counteract that, festivals have added non-alcoholic drinks such as cider, seltzers, and non-alcoholic beer. To attract a wider audience, some festivals are adding new features such as specialty foods and crafts.
Kevin feels that beer fests give people an opportunity to not only try different beers but to interact with the craft brewers themselves. He says, “Craft beer to me is about community. It’s about bringing people together; it’s about supporting mom and pop shops. They make the product by hand. Breweries are gathering spaces: social events for people to connect, put down the phone, talk to a human being, get off ChatGPT.”
Cheers to that.
Jeff Brown is the business beat reporter for the Acton Exchange.
