,After a two-year pandemic pause, Kiwanis AleFest has not lost its public appeal.
The two-day beer-tasting event, set for Jan. 27-28 at Two Rivers Gallery, took just 2 1/2 hours to sell out Saturday morning.
It might have been an even quicker sell if not for the huge demand for the seventh annual event, which created a bottleneck of online traffic on the online ticket-purchasing website Eventbrite.
“We really appreciated people’s patience for bearing with us,” said AleFest communications/marketing lead Holly Keech.
“We were a little unsure if we were going to have the same response as previous years after being off for two years but people really came through and we really appreciate it.”
A portion of the proceeds ($5,000) will go to Ronald McDonald House BC in Vancouver to pay the expenses for a northern BC family to stay there while their kids are undergoing treatment at the adjacent BC Children’s Hospital. The Kiwanis Club of Prince George has supported Ronald McDonald House for 30 years.
All other AleFest profits will be set aside for local children’s charities such as the KidSport, Child Development Centre, and Big Brothers, Big Sisters and to fund legacy projects to be built by the Kiwanis Club of Prince George.
The local chapter of the service club started in 1954 and the efforts of its members raised the money to build the bandshell at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park (formerly known as Fort George Park) and the Kiwanis picnic shelter at Cottonwood Island Park.
Thirteen northern BC craft breweries craft breweries, including Trench Brewing and Distilling, Deadfall Brewing and CrossRoads Brewing, all of Prince George will have their products featured at AleFest.
The other participating breweries are Barkerville Brewing (Quesnel), Bulkley Valley Brewery and Smithers Brewery (both of Smithers), Fox Mountain Brewery (Williams Lake), Cask and Cleaver Brewery (100 Mile House), Ursa Minor Bewing (Oootsa Lake), Sherwood Mountain Brewing (Terrace), Wheelhouse Brewing (Prince Rupert), Mighty Peace Brewing and Three Ranges Brewery (Valemount).
Two other Prince George businesses - Slaughterhouse Craft (cidery) and Northern Lights Estate Winery – are also participating in AleFest.
Tickets for all three beer-tasting sessions Friday, Jan. 27 (7:30-10:30 p.m.) and Saturday, Jan. 28 (3-6 p.m. and 7:30-10:30 p.m.) are spoken for and each session will include at least 400 customers. Each ticket holder received six tasting tokens good for a four-ounce sample. Additional tokens will cost $5 (good for three samples).
“We’re just so appreciative, it’s amazing it sells out every year,” said Prince George Kiwanis vice-president Jamie Cunningham. “I think everybody is looking forward to being back together. Since the pandemic a whole bunch of new breweries have opened up and everybody’s excited to try those.
“It’s been a bit challenging this year just because of a labour shortage and some breweries that wanted to be here couldn’t swing it due to not having enough workers.”
If you didn’t get a ticket and are 19 years or older you can still participate in the free Kiwanis AleFest Beer. Some of the craft brewers will bring casks of beer to sample Crawl at downtown pubs and restaurants . Participants will get their AleFest passports stamped at each stop on the tour and can enter those passports in a draw to win a prize package.
The Beer Crawl will stop at Twisted Cork, The Firm Lounge and Grill, Frozen Paddle Ice Creamery, The Black Clover, Nancy O’s, Trench Brewing and Distilling, CrossRoads Brewing and Betulla Burning Pizzeria.
The Kiwanis Club is seeking volunteers take tickets at the door, staff the beer booths and set up/dismantle the chairs and tables at the gallery.
Contact [email protected] or call 250-301-8561 for more information.
