Kennett Brewfest is back for another round
Sample some beer; help the borough. It seems only fair.
Historic Kennett Square, a nonprofit agency that views Kennett as the economic, social and cultural center of southern Chester County, will hold its 12th annual Brewfest Oct. 10. The Brewfest is the organization’s largest fundraiser, and with 56 breweries on tap as of Sept. 22, it stands to be a record-breaking day of hoppy goodness.
Brewfest chairman and Historic Kennett Square board member Jeffrey Norman said he devised the beer-tasting event with a then-new restaurateur in the area who was selling a wide variety of craft beers. At that time, Norman was involved with Kennett Square Revitalization Task Force, the precursor to Historic Kennett Square. There were also a lot of fledgling breweries in the area like Sly Fox, Yards, and Downingtown-based Victory. Norman had also visited a similar event in Adamstown, home of Stoudt’s Brewing Co. (which will appear in Kennett), and borrowed the idea.
“We thought, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be kinda cool to do a brewery festival?’” he said.
Tough to gauge the popularity of a new event, the Brewfest was coupled with Kennett Square’s mushroom festival for several years. In its fourth year, the festival stood alone.
“As a new event, we weren’t quite sure how it would go over,” Norman said. “For the first several years, it was actually part of the larger mushroom festival that we have here every September.
“[But] it made sense for an organization that’s about Kennett Square to say, ‘We have another stand-alone event here that’s going to bring people into town on a separate weekend. Why don’t we do that?’”
The event brought in about 2,500 beer samplers last year, which equated to about $70,000 for Historic Kennett Square, according to Norman. According to the organization’s Web site, the Brewfest brought in $52,100 and $71,700 in 2006 and 2007, respectively.
Historic Kennett Square spokeswoman Mary Hutchins said the organization, which handles promotions and marketing for the borough, has worked hard in recent years to increase foot traffic to the downtown area, and the Brewfest samplers certainly help with that.
“This is the organization’s major fundraiser,” Hutchins said, adding that the Brewfest accounts for about one third of the organization’s budget. “We hate to say that the organization runs on beer, but it basically does.”
For the second year, Historic Kennett Square will hold a fundraiser dinner the night before the Brewfest, where the food will be paired with wines and beer. And very popular last year was the “Connoisseur” tasting — a smaller tasting, limited to 300 people, just prior to the Brewfest — which has been sold out for months.
And though the thought of thousands of beer-tasters descending upon the borough may sound unpleasant, Hutchins said her organization works closely with the borough’s public works and police departments — adding that it’s in the borough’s best interest to keep the party going smoothly.
“The Brewfest has always been highly regarded and embraced by the borough and its residents,” she said. “They realize how important it is to our program, and they realize how important Historic Kennett Square is to the vitality of the downtown.”
The Kennett Square Brewfest will be held Oct. 10 from 2 to 6 p.m. on South Broad Street, in Kennett Square. Tickets are $35 and include a 2-ounce sample cup. “Designated driver” tickets cost $10. For more information and tickets, visit www.kennettbrewfest.com.
Historic Kennett Square, a nonprofit agency that views Kennett as the economic, social and cultural center of southern Chester County, will hold its 12th annual Brewfest Oct. 10. The Brewfest is the organization’s largest fundraiser, and with 56 breweries on tap as of Sept. 22, it stands to be a record-breaking day of hoppy goodness.
Brewfest chairman and Historic Kennett Square board member Jeffrey Norman said he devised the beer-tasting event with a then-new restaurateur in the area who was selling a wide variety of craft beers. At that time, Norman was involved with Kennett Square Revitalization Task Force, the precursor to Historic Kennett Square. There were also a lot of fledgling breweries in the area like Sly Fox, Yards, and Downingtown-based Victory. Norman had also visited a similar event in Adamstown, home of Stoudt’s Brewing Co. (which will appear in Kennett), and borrowed the idea.
“We thought, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be kinda cool to do a brewery festival?’” he said.
Tough to gauge the popularity of a new event, the Brewfest was coupled with Kennett Square’s mushroom festival for several years. In its fourth year, the festival stood alone.
“As a new event, we weren’t quite sure how it would go over,” Norman said. “For the first several years, it was actually part of the larger mushroom festival that we have here every September.
“[But] it made sense for an organization that’s about Kennett Square to say, ‘We have another stand-alone event here that’s going to bring people into town on a separate weekend. Why don’t we do that?’”
The event brought in about 2,500 beer samplers last year, which equated to about $70,000 for Historic Kennett Square, according to Norman. According to the organization’s Web site, the Brewfest brought in $52,100 and $71,700 in 2006 and 2007, respectively.
Historic Kennett Square spokeswoman Mary Hutchins said the organization, which handles promotions and marketing for the borough, has worked hard in recent years to increase foot traffic to the downtown area, and the Brewfest samplers certainly help with that.
“This is the organization’s major fundraiser,” Hutchins said, adding that the Brewfest accounts for about one third of the organization’s budget. “We hate to say that the organization runs on beer, but it basically does.”
For the second year, Historic Kennett Square will hold a fundraiser dinner the night before the Brewfest, where the food will be paired with wines and beer. And very popular last year was the “Connoisseur” tasting — a smaller tasting, limited to 300 people, just prior to the Brewfest — which has been sold out for months.
And though the thought of thousands of beer-tasters descending upon the borough may sound unpleasant, Hutchins said her organization works closely with the borough’s public works and police departments — adding that it’s in the borough’s best interest to keep the party going smoothly.
“The Brewfest has always been highly regarded and embraced by the borough and its residents,” she said. “They realize how important it is to our program, and they realize how important Historic Kennett Square is to the vitality of the downtown.”
The Kennett Square Brewfest will be held Oct. 10 from 2 to 6 p.m. on South Broad Street, in Kennett Square. Tickets are $35 and include a 2-ounce sample cup. “Designated driver” tickets cost $10. For more information and tickets, visit www.kennettbrewfest.com.
