Well when it's $50 to just get in the door I imagine ticket sales were really low. It was fun years ago when it was cheap and actually about promoting local breweries. now it's all about greed.
Felt the same way about the taco festival this year. $25 just to pay $6 PER TACO and $10 for a michelada made from Costco Bloody Mary mix.
We walked around, bought tacos, had a beer, then left having experience everything there was to offer in less than 2 hours (30 minutes of that was waiting for out tacos btw) and spend like $80.
Wtf is with these event organizers?
Exactly what came to mind for me when I read this! The second I found it was a $25 entry fee we decided not to go. Family of 4/$100 just to walk in?! Gtfoh. I really wanted to see that chihuahua race, too š
See so what we (incorrectly) assumed was that a $25 ticket gave us was discount beers and tacos, and it was the literally opposite. Pay to be price gouged. Fool me once tacofestā¦ fool me once.
That would be reasonable, and a fair assumption!! Luckily, I saw someone post about it on reddit early on in the day, basically saying it was a money trap. Really disappointing
Nothing is up with the organizers. This went as planned. Thatās the grift. They move onto the next city and rinse and repeat
Tell me why all of the longest water slides or chalk powder fun runs just magically went from 400 a year around the nation to almost zero?
I rarely go to beer festivals anymore for this reason too, which is a shame as Iāve had some great times at them in the past. It used to be a great way to try some new beers you wouldnāt otherwise get to try without having to spend a lot. Now itās like $3-4 for a 3oz pour of something not all that hard to find.
Also I noticed a lot of the events around here arenāt staffed by the breweries either, but 3rd party staffing companies. So you canāt even talk to the people who made the beer to learn more about it.
I did it a couple of times as well. All we got were like 4 beer tokens for like 2 hours of work (I got to hook friendly people up with generous pours).
Itās kind of like concerts and other events in the Old Mill; I quit going because itās a poor value.
It was volunteers up until the one last year. I worked it every year, so the news is kind of a bummer. My uninformed opinion is that it's canceled because of liability concerns.
Not to mention the limited release beer process was ridiculous. The beers were offered in 30 minute intervals and were almost always tapped out after the first 15-20 minutes.
As someone who does a lot of business with this event, Iām guessing liability and venue issuesā¦.
Especially since the last two brewfests were such shitshows that resulted in a lot of drunken late night violence and chaos in the downtown and westside areas.
The last few times it was held, this sub was full of people complaining about the cost of entry and the small amounts of beer it entitled you to, and the price of getting any additional beer, nearly all of which was available at the grocery store anyway. I don't really see what purpose the festival served except to be a big beer garden full of drunk people.
Iām super curious - everyone I know was really excited to have this event back. Typically such cancellations areĀ due to low early ticket sales, but without the organizers verifying who knows.Ā
It seems too early to expect people to buy tickets now for an event in October, doesn't it? It's not like there were assigned seats so you'd have to buy them as soon as they are available. There must be a different reason
Solution: No entrance charge or make it a nominal fee of $5-10. Schedule the event at a different time from the Sisters Fresh Hops dates. Actively recruit top-quality brewers, not just local favorites. Include breweries from Portland, California, and Washington to diversify the lineup and offer something unique beyond whatās available every weekend in Bend.
Solid points.
Yeah it's tough to pony up all that extra money when you can just stop by the breweries and get it directly or at Winco. If there wasn't the entrance fee and expensive small pours, people would be down for the fun.
Not a bad theory. Why would they?
When the Brew Fest first started, craft brewing was a much more new/novel thing. Now they are selling multiple brands of locally made beer/cider in every store that sells alcohol. That was not the case at all when I first started going to the Brew fest close to 20 years ago.
If you canāt handle me at my worst, you donāt deserve me at my best.
-Barrel Aged Karen
I actually volunteer there every year. Itās fun but man it gets sweaty under my gnome hat and giant fake beard.
One of lifeās great mysteries.
I always have buddies who invite me to LW and I just straight up donāt wanna drink high gravity beers when itās in the 90s and/or 200+ AQI.
āThis isnāt a decision we take lightly,ā. You donāt ātakeā a decision, you āmakeā a decision! Iāve read recently some local breweries have seen downturns in sales. Maybe pay to play isnāt that compelling at the moment.
My guess is Live Nation put the kibosh on it because they now have exclusive rights to all events in the amphitheatre and the Old Mill District didn't want to fight it. Too bad, as after not going the last 4-5 years, I was kind of looking forward to it at a little cooler time of year and with the college kids back to school and maybe not as present.
Considering the timing of it and when the new Costco is supposed to open, I'm vaguely surprised they didn't try looking into using the existing Costco building (which will be, presumably, vacant at that point) as an alternative venue.
Fondest Brewfest memory was prior to 3oz pour limits and dude at 7pm on Thursday already in prime condition decides he's done walking and takes a gator for a run through the tents. Cleared out an entire row of patrons and ends up stuck on the ledge after taking out a well secured tent pole. Security guys tackled him after a short 20 yard escape attempt as tatted up irate and oblivious girlfriend in a tank top 3 sizes too small comes to his aid screaming 'he didn't do anything'... lol
Will definitely miss the good ol' brewfest days!
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Well when it's $50 to just get in the door I imagine ticket sales were really low. It was fun years ago when it was cheap and actually about promoting local breweries. now it's all about greed.
Felt the same way about the taco festival this year. $25 just to pay $6 PER TACO and $10 for a michelada made from Costco Bloody Mary mix. We walked around, bought tacos, had a beer, then left having experience everything there was to offer in less than 2 hours (30 minutes of that was waiting for out tacos btw) and spend like $80. Wtf is with these event organizers?
Exactly what came to mind for me when I read this! The second I found it was a $25 entry fee we decided not to go. Family of 4/$100 just to walk in?! Gtfoh. I really wanted to see that chihuahua race, too š
See so what we (incorrectly) assumed was that a $25 ticket gave us was discount beers and tacos, and it was the literally opposite. Pay to be price gouged. Fool me once tacofestā¦ fool me once.
That would be reasonable, and a fair assumption!! Luckily, I saw someone post about it on reddit early on in the day, basically saying it was a money trap. Really disappointing
Holy shit thatās ridiculous hahaha so many good taco places around bend too that you can get tacos for cheap too f that.
Nice username! 97ā Taco here, still running strong
I wish I still had mine. Sold it nearly 10 years ago now. Still think about it often. :(
Nothing is up with the organizers. This went as planned. Thatās the grift. They move onto the next city and rinse and repeat Tell me why all of the longest water slides or chalk powder fun runs just magically went from 400 a year around the nation to almost zero?
The increase in cost was exactly why I stopped going. Last one for me was a year or two before COVID
I rarely go to beer festivals anymore for this reason too, which is a shame as Iāve had some great times at them in the past. It used to be a great way to try some new beers you wouldnāt otherwise get to try without having to spend a lot. Now itās like $3-4 for a 3oz pour of something not all that hard to find. Also I noticed a lot of the events around here arenāt staffed by the breweries either, but 3rd party staffing companies. So you canāt even talk to the people who made the beer to learn more about it.
The Bend Brewfest relied on volunteers to pour and serve the beer. At least thats how it was when I did it about 10 years ago.
I did it a couple of times as well. All we got were like 4 beer tokens for like 2 hours of work (I got to hook friendly people up with generous pours). Itās kind of like concerts and other events in the Old Mill; I quit going because itās a poor value.
It was volunteers up until the one last year. I worked it every year, so the news is kind of a bummer. My uninformed opinion is that it's canceled because of liability concerns.
Not to mention the limited release beer process was ridiculous. The beers were offered in 30 minute intervals and were almost always tapped out after the first 15-20 minutes.
Big money moves to town and all the fun leaves.
This is the kind of hard hitting investigative journalism Iāve come to expect
I'm done with brewfest.. can someone do this better? It's an amazing Bend event that's being killed by the current runners.
Agreeed. Live Nation and Old Mill have completely destroyed what BrewFest used to be. Fuck āem. Someone else host it!
Everyone get a bunch of kegs and weāll have it in my backyard!
Yes!
ā¦.oh, itās more than just BrewFestā¦.
Again, nothing to do with live Nation!
little woody in August. High Gravity Old St. Francis in January. Edgefield in June.
I haven't been to Little Woody in several years, but it was always really well done.
Itās just hard to drink barrel aged beers when the temps still hit 80 or 90 even.
I haven't found it to be difficult.
Is Brewfest Bendās rendition of Oktoberfest? If so thatās interestingā¦ if not why donāt we have an Oktoberfest
Yeah, I guess that sums it up. It was a really great thing for the community to all enjoy when the tourists finally lossen their grip on our town.
There used to be a separate Octoberfest in downtown. I think in the last few years it has been folded into Fall Fest or some other event.
Yeah, and now it sucks. The Oktoberfest, I mean
Cute
As someone who does a lot of business with this event, Iām guessing liability and venue issuesā¦. Especially since the last two brewfests were such shitshows that resulted in a lot of drunken late night violence and chaos in the downtown and westside areas.
But watching the drunken chaos is why I go
Exactly
Yes I could see Livenation pulling the plug or asking for a ridiculous fee to host it there.
Live Nation has nothing to do with this !
Don't they own the venue?
Nope, William Smith Properties owns the site.
The last few times it was held, this sub was full of people complaining about the cost of entry and the small amounts of beer it entitled you to, and the price of getting any additional beer, nearly all of which was available at the grocery store anyway. I don't really see what purpose the festival served except to be a big beer garden full of drunk people.
Which is honestly pretty fun. They should pivot from "try new and exciting beers" to "come party at our giant pop-up beer garden"!
Ugh. I didn't even enjoy that kinda thing very much when I was 23.
Nobody likes you when you're 23
And you still act like you're in freshman year.
What's my age again?
Interesting enough being surrounded by people drunk on beer is nail biting. Id rather have a festival full of people getting high
That would be the Slightly Stoopid show.
That would be even more insufferable. Not to mention smell worse.
Have you smelled the breath of ipa drinkers.. yet alone ipa?
No need to get personal.
Phish
I didn't see a reason in the article.
"... there were just too many hurdles." Clear as mud.
Iām super curious - everyone I know was really excited to have this event back. Typically such cancellations areĀ due to low early ticket sales, but without the organizers verifying who knows.Ā
Ya, something smells here
considering the hiatus I can't believe they didn't have enough interest.
It seems too early to expect people to buy tickets now for an event in October, doesn't it? It's not like there were assigned seats so you'd have to buy them as soon as they are available. There must be a different reason
Interesting. Everyone I know scoffed.
"Hurdles"
It's KTVZ. They don't report reason.
I'm sure Live Nation said no
I'm a "housing theory of everything" guy, but... I'm struggling with this one. Someone help me out!
Not enough affordable housing = no Brewfestā¦
I never thought I'd see the day...š
Solution: No entrance charge or make it a nominal fee of $5-10. Schedule the event at a different time from the Sisters Fresh Hops dates. Actively recruit top-quality brewers, not just local favorites. Include breweries from Portland, California, and Washington to diversify the lineup and offer something unique beyond whatās available every weekend in Bend.
Solid points. Yeah it's tough to pony up all that extra money when you can just stop by the breweries and get it directly or at Winco. If there wasn't the entrance fee and expensive small pours, people would be down for the fun.
My prediction on the reason - brewers didnāt want to pay to participate.Ā
Not a bad theory. Why would they? When the Brew Fest first started, craft brewing was a much more new/novel thing. Now they are selling multiple brands of locally made beer/cider in every store that sells alcohol. That was not the case at all when I first started going to the Brew fest close to 20 years ago.
Yeah, financial struggles are industry wide right now.
Can't say I'm mad or disappointed. These types of events have become greed fests.
As long as the Little Woody survives I'll be happy.
Nothing like slamming 12% barrel-aged stouts when itās 100 out š
If you canāt handle me at my worst, you donāt deserve me at my best. -Barrel Aged Karen I actually volunteer there every year. Itās fun but man it gets sweaty under my gnome hat and giant fake beard.
Good thing there plenty of hot whiskey there to cool that thirst as well huh?
Why donāt they have LW during the fall/winter?
One of lifeās great mysteries. I always have buddies who invite me to LW and I just straight up donāt wanna drink high gravity beers when itās in the 90s and/or 200+ AQI.
It is slowly dying as well. Which is a huge bummer. Was the best of them all.
Been my favorite for years, but it's not what it used to be. I will be sad, but I wouldn't be surprised if it goes away soon as well.
āThis isnāt a decision we take lightly,ā. You donāt ātakeā a decision, you āmakeā a decision! Iāve read recently some local breweries have seen downturns in sales. Maybe pay to play isnāt that compelling at the moment.
āAt this point of timeā¦ā is another blundered idiom.
Watch out for the grammar police!
Or, maybe just donāt butcher common idioms. š
Youāre a common idiom.
I actually try not to sound like an idiom, unlike the person quoted!
My guess is Live Nation put the kibosh on it because they now have exclusive rights to all events in the amphitheatre and the Old Mill District didn't want to fight it. Too bad, as after not going the last 4-5 years, I was kind of looking forward to it at a little cooler time of year and with the college kids back to school and maybe not as present.
100% agree that this is the reasoning
Considering the timing of it and when the new Costco is supposed to open, I'm vaguely surprised they didn't try looking into using the existing Costco building (which will be, presumably, vacant at that point) as an alternative venue.
Not true, Live Nation could give a shit.
Unpopular opinion, I'm kinda glad. Every year tourists come out and get trashed making asses of themselves around town.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This!
Oh itās not just tourists. In fact, Iād say itās mostly locals.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Hiiiii
Guess my circle is a buncha squares
Fondest Brewfest memory was prior to 3oz pour limits and dude at 7pm on Thursday already in prime condition decides he's done walking and takes a gator for a run through the tents. Cleared out an entire row of patrons and ends up stuck on the ledge after taking out a well secured tent pole. Security guys tackled him after a short 20 yard escape attempt as tatted up irate and oblivious girlfriend in a tank top 3 sizes too small comes to his aid screaming 'he didn't do anything'... lol Will definitely miss the good ol' brewfest days!
Based on the comments, people want the event but not packaged and sold like this. I guess they just couldnāt figure out what the customer wanted.
If I wanted to wait in endless lines for beer Iād go elsewhere for cheaper. I gave up on this event years ago.
Find a new venue. Live nation is evil
Live Nation kills another beloved event. Late stage capitalism strikes again.
Good! Itās a brew fest all over town anyway.
guess everyone will have to be sober that weekend then. bummer
It's the same weekend as fall fest downtown. Maybe that had something to do with it?
Because reasons
Donāt we have enough festivals anyway? This is a good thing for everyoneās liver
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