Wow. Just... wow.
I don't have the official numbers. I heard a couple of different reports from different people before I left at midnight, but the total number of people at the Magic City Brewfest yesterday was somewhere near 5,000. It really blew away our expectations. I am so happy with how it went.
It wasn't without some problems. As I stated on the Brewfest website several weeks ago, this was the first event of its kind in Alabama, and none of us planning it had ever planned anything quite like it before. I know the number one problem was food. We didn't have enough of it, it wasn't arranged efficiently enough, and the lines were long. I've heard lots of comments, and believe me, we are going to do it better next year. More food vendors and more food tents; much shorter lines.
But considering this was our first attempt (with no practice runs) it went remarkably well. Just great. In spite of the long lines to get in the gate and the long lines for food, almost everyone I encountered was very satisfied and having a great time. The music was excellent. The beer selection was the best ever poured in one place in Alabama. And the crowd was huge, happy, and no one got out of control.
There were several folks I wanted to talk with but I was so busy I didn't really have time. Sorry about that. I never anticipated how busy I'd be on the day of the event.
A huge thank you goes out to everyone who attended, everyone who volunteered, and everyone who showed their support for us at the merchandise booth. We had 84 new members join FTH at our merchandise booth yesterday. And many thanks to the beer distributors and their suppliers who made the whole thing possible.
Get ready for MCBF 2008.
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I hated to miss out on the "official" sampling glass.
On top of all the beer representatives I was also happy to see Kim and the Alabrew group too!
Great Job all around. we can't wait for next year.
I think that one way of improving things would be to have a single ticket price for those who wish to taste the beer (say $20-25) and another, much reduced, price for designated drivers (say $5). Both categories should include access to whatever food is available.
The need to provide huge quantities of food, which can be difficult for vendors, could be minimized by giving each attendee a limited number of food tickets, which would have to be exchanged for whatever food items they wanted to try.
I'd also suggest scattering the food stations out around the site, so that everyone doesn't end up in a single big slow-moving line. That probably led to more food consumption, as people grabbed and ate things and just stayed in line for what was available next. With a number of separate food stations spread out among the beer tents, people would be more apt to eat only one or two things at a time before getting back to checking out the beers.
Please understand that the above comments are not meant as a criticism, but simply as constructive suggestions for the next fest. By any measure, this was a great first effort and everyone involved with putting it together deserves a round of applause. I'm not sure if I could do it every month, as a previous writer has suggested, but wouldn't it be nice to have one in the spring and another in the fall?
I only use a certain card on the web. Its a prepaid card, your pay pall thing wont take it. My wife and I would like to help, can I send you a chek.
martinbena@netzero.com