Whether they came to imbibe regional brews or salivate over sleek classic vehicles, visitors to Tryon Saturday, Nov. 8 found a feast in the Tryon Beer Festival at the newly renovated Depot Plaza, and Tryon Rolling Art Show at Thompson’s Landscaping on Palmer St. The combination of the two events filled the streets of Tryon with record crowds.

“It was a fantastic day.  The festival exceeded our expectations.  The weather was perfect, the Depot Plaza renovations were beautiful, the crowd was great, the food was delicious, and the beer was awesome!  Thanks to Tryon Downtown Development Association sponsorship, the town of Tryon, our volunteers and vendors it was a huge success.  Most of all, thanks to the Beer Fest Steering Committee that put months of ‘volunteer’ effort into planning the event – what a great team!” said Joe Pullara, who was the new event chairman this year.

Almost a thousand tickets were sold this year to those interested in sampling more than 50 regional craft beers amidst the beautiful fall colors in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. That number rose dramatically from 750 last year, and from 450 the inaugural year before. “This year we had even more visitors from beyond the immediate Carolinas- met a lot of folks from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, which makes this a destination event,” said Shelly Block, committee chair.

One of the changes this year was to end the festival earlier at 6 p.m. and allow guests to re-enter the festival at their leisure. This allowed for many guests to peruse shops, visit other spots throughout Tryon and even eat at one of the local restaurants if Bavarian fare, barbeque, or pizza wasn’t what their stomachs craved. A menu board posted at the beer fest even gave attendees an idea of what foods might await them beyond event parameters. Again this year, encouraging the use of local businesses was at the heart of the festival’s mission. The committee stated they made a point of selecting as many local vendors as was feasible.

Block added it should be any festival’s goal to improve offerings year after year: for example, this year’s event included the addition of more beer and food variety, a live beer brewing demo by local club YEAST (Youthful and Elder Ale Sippers of Tryon), more games and prizes, and a free photo booth this year.

The Tryon Beer Fest steering committee is always open to suggestions as they prepare for next year’s event to be held Nov. 7, 2015 via email through info@tryonbeerfest.com or talk to a Committee member.

 

– Article submitted 

by Shelly Block