Londoners will have a chance to sample the best local brewing has to offer this weekend as Forest City Beer Fest sets up shop in the downtown core.
The festival’s 2017 edition is expanding by beginning on Friday afternoon and will run over two days instead of the usual one.
The event gives more than 20 local breweries the chance to showcase their products and foster interest in the growing London industry.
This year’s event has expanded its usual footprint by adding a launch party Friday afternoon that will take over a portion of Dundas Street.
RELATED: International Food Festival drawing local foodies to Victoria Park this weekend
The area will be blocked to traffic between Talbot and Richmond Streets for the party which will last from 12 p.m. until 11 p.m. The roadway and Market Alley will become an open air beer garden and food truck patio.
Festival officials say they wanted to expand the event, but to do so with different offerings from Saturday’s slate of activities while still giving Londoners more chances to enjoy beer downtown.
“The whole street will be licensed and bands will begin playing later at night,” Event Organizer Aaron Brown tells AM980.
RELATED: London committee endorses plan to allow craft brewers to open patios in industrial zones
Brown says they expect more than 5,000 people to visit the festival over its two-day run.
On Saturday, nearly 20 brewers from across the region will set up at the Covent Garden Market.
“All the local London breweries are represented as well as brewers from the region, you know down the road in St. Thomas, Blyth’s Cowbell Brewing that just opened up is going to be there.”
“We have brewers from as far away as Toronto and beyond,” Brown says.
The event will run rain or shine from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Admission is free, and beer tickets cost $2.50 each.
Comments