# Beer Festivals In Sa



## Gulf Brewery (7/2/10)

Hi everyone

There are discussions occuring amongst the SA microbreweries and some other people about what people would like to see in a Beer Festival. This is the chance for those in SA to have their say about beer festivals, but we welcome comments from other states.

A few things to get the topic started.
1. Time of year that is best to hold the event
2. Location - City / Suburbs / Hotel / Other venue
3. What you would pay to enter the event
4. What you expect for your entrance fee
5. Would you pre-book tickets?
6. How long should the event run for - an afternoon / evening / day etc
7. Is there a place for other things like cider at the event?

Based on then feedback, we will then try and summarise all comments and discuss them at the next microbrewers meeting.

We need to keep this thread on topic, so moderators - please feel free to delete any post that is off topic. There is also another thread for comments on the recent one at the Kings Hotel in Adelaide, so if you have comments on that one, please use that thread. 


Cheers
Peter


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## dj1984 (7/2/10)

something like this http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/plan.htm, SA does not have enough brewerys for a big show IMO, so interstate brewerys need to get in on the act. If its big enough and good enough i would pay big $$$ to go.


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## raven19 (7/2/10)

We are the 'festival state' granted.

Would a micro festival pull enough punters?

I would certainly hope each brewery would have at least one representative in attendance at all times, as we homebrewers love to talk brewing!

Location - in the city is fine, or near the centre of Adelaide.

Venue - not too fussed personally, as long as there is brewery reps present.

$10 for sampling of numerous beers seems reasonable as an entry fee. Prebooked may work if it was discounted, then a higher fee at the door so to speak.

Would need to be held over at least a 2 day period.

Just my 2c... :icon_cheers:


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## Goofinder (7/2/10)

Gulf Brewery said:


> 1. Time of year that is best to hold the event
> 2. Location - City / Suburbs / Hotel / Other venue
> 3. What you would pay to enter the event
> 4. What you expect for your entrance fee
> ...


1. March-April, or September-November. Too hot/wet otherwise.
2. City, parklands somewhere.
3. $15 - $20.
4. About $10-$15 worth of beer or maybe a commemorative glass to add to the collection.
5. If it was cheaper than just rocking up.
6. Needs to go day/afternoon through into the night. Afternoon for quiet tastings, evening/night to cater for all of Adelaide's bogan pissheads.
7. Cider yes. Wine no.

Would need to get most of the SA micros on board. Having been around to most of them, if there was only a couple there I probably wouldn't bother unless something special was on.

Set tasting paddles might be an idea - e.g. pale ales, porters/stouts from all the breweries at once. Another option might be a beer and food pairing dinner that could be pre-booked.


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## puffer555 (7/2/10)

_1. Time of year that is best to hold the event
_
Summer for sure. Outdoor summer festivals are sure to attract more people.

_2. Location - City / Suburbs / Hotel / Other venue_

Doesn't matter really. If its good, people will go. The food and wine festivals in the east parklands are always good, so maybe something along those lines.
A location like that will also probably attract people who have not heard about the event, but happen to walk past, ie. more passers by. 

_3. What you would pay to enter the event
_
$10 bucks is good. Maybe also $5 for a take home stein/glass, that gets refilled.

_4. What you expect for your entrance fee
_
A good festival. 
As many microbrewery stands as possible. 
Lots of tastings available and all tastings available for sale. 
Ability to buy take away items, ie. mixed six packs, growlers etc. 
Good food. 
Good atmosphere/entertainment.

_5. Would you pre-book tickets?
_
Not really necesary, but as mentioned above, presale might attract some discount.

_6. How long should the event run for - an afternoon / evening / day etc
_
Afternoon into evening, ie 2 pm - 10 pm.

_7. Is there a place for other things like cider at the event?
_
Definately. Not everyone enjoys beer. My wife certainly prefers cider over beer.


One last thing to consider is that I personally wouldn't go if it turned into another shutzenfest.
Too many wankers who go just to get "shitzenfaced" !!
It needs to be more about sampling and enjoying local beer/cider/produce etc.
This will be the hardest part I think.

I, and even many of my non brewing friends, would certainly support such an event.
Hopefully the next one will be much better. 

Tim


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## dj1984 (7/2/10)

I would think $75-100 with unlimited tasting around 30-50ml each, you gotta get away from the Schtzenfest style of getting sh*t faced with a big stein and only being able to try a few beers, the line is so huge because people are paying for drinks and needing change, same with tickets for drinks there is still going to be a line up.

then again the average VB or TED drinker is not going to pay $75-$100 to taste flavoured beer, that might be to much for the tast buds to handle :lol: so the market might not be as big unless you get interstaters to come over for it.


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## Murcluf (7/2/10)

A few things to get the topic started.
1. Time of year that is best to hold the event 
Not March give South Australians something to do on any other month of the year beside going to see the Crows play. October would be good (mind you if you were hoping to go for interstate exposure around clipsal would be good but that also depends what crowd you want too)

2. Location - City / Suburbs / Hotel / Other venue 
Depends on what kind of crowd you want Indoor Hall kind of venue is better suited to crowd control and and exhibitor layout (Wayville, Hindmarsh, or Convention Centre) This also depends on how many exhibators you are going to have. If you want to have a sizable event perhaps you should also look at getting interstate micros onboard also more the merrier you'd think.

3. What you would pay to enter the event
Depends whats on offer, sick of "Over Priced and Under Whelming" if can't justify spending a lot of money and not expecting to get much in return the I wouldn't go. It's got to be more then what you can get by just going to the pub or sitting home and having a beer,it has to be an experience for the drinker.

4. What you expect for your entrance fee
Gather that would depend whether you are going to charge for tastings (suggestion enternce fee covers X amount of Tastings and beyond that you pay for what you want) Working on a principal of say $20 x 10 tasters after that everything is a $1 to $2 a taste at 50ml to 90 ml a go. Also so have brewery and event merch.

5. Would you pre-book tickets? 
yes if it is discounted (early bird prices for pre-booked tickets) would be a bonus and a good indicator of numbers early

6. How long should the event run for - an afternoon / evening / day etc
Depending on size I'd suggest 2pm afternoon to early evening say 6pm, 8pm max, the longer it goes on the more drinking related issues you'll get

7. Is there a place for other things like cider at the event?
Yes absolutely, make sure there is food available too, (beer food matching or complimenting might be a way to go)Also tying it in with and beer related event may also be a help (ie. Octoberfest, AIBA, SABOSA, ANAWBS, etc)

The main question I would have for for you in planning this kind of an event would be what kind of target market are you aiming at, are you going to use this kind of an event to develop long term customer base who would appreciate your product. or just an excuse have a piss up (as most would see a BEER Festival to be, AKA the Schitz"n"Face) once you have got that worked out then start developing your plan from there.


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## AussieJosh (8/2/10)

1. Time of year that is best to hold the event - I think March or April would be good! Its not to hot and not to cold.

2. Location - City / Suburbs / Hotel / Other venue - City or a suburb just out side the city. A place like the convention center or the Araba were last years beer fest was held would be good! Or maybe even a city park?

3. What you would pay to enter the event - Id pay $50 or $60 for unlimited tastings.

4. What you expect for your entrance fee - If entrance was say $25 id expect a glass we could keep, pluss around 10 samples that are about 100mls each. the a charge of about $2 for every sample after that.

5. Would you pre-book tickets? - Yes! And maybe a discount for doing so. Like $20 pre booked or $25 on the day.

6. How long should the event run for - an afternoon / evening / day etc - Afternoon on a Sunday, about 4 hrs says 12pm till 4pm

7. Is there a place for other things like cider at the event? - Yes! i dont mind the odd Cider pluss more guys might me "allowed" to come if they could bring there Wifes along to taste a binch of ciders.


Good luck with the id really like to see this take off!


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## Boots (8/2/10)

My main point would be that to make it successful as a standalone event - it needs to be vendor / brewer agnostic. i.e. I reckon as a festival it would have a greater chance of success if it included national craftbereweries rather than just local ones. Also no reason not to include good megaswill beers (I'm thinking things like FatYak, LCPA / Rogers, etc). I think if it is aimed at being a sales tool just for 2 or 3 breweries - it will be seen as such by the punters - and garner less support.

Also don't just get the involved breweries to bring their standard products. Bring something we CAN'T get at the bottle-o or tasting room. i.e. BrewBoys bring along their randal, or everyone do an experimental batch etc etc etc.

1. Time of year that is best to hold the event
Don't care as long as two considerations are covered: 1) if it's in winter it's an internal location (exhibition centre, show grounds halls etc) 2) it doesn't clash with entertainment budget / compettition (i.e. don't have it too close to Clipsal 500 as many would have blown their entertainment budget on it. Other events such as AFL showdown, etc should IMO be avoided. May be able to find a complimentary event tho).

2. Location - City / Suburbs / Hotel / Other venue
City / clost to city would be good - lets' face it we need public transport access if you're going to make any money off us. The parade grounds worked really well for that (kinda unsuccesful) festival a few years back. I think the location should be factored into your target market discussion as well. i.e. outside will make for more family friendly - inside would be better for a focussed beer crowd with no family.

3. What you would pay to enter the event
I would like to see a few different options. Casual passerby's would be put off by a $60 ticket no matter how many tastings you got. And a serious beer lover would be put off by free entry but high drink prices. So I'd make it tiered:
Level 1 pricing is aimed at passerby traffic and partners of alcoholics / dedicated drivers. Cheap (or free entry) but higher drink prices and no merch
Level 2 pricing is aimed at people who would love to spend a whole day drinking craft beer but can only get there for a few hours. Minor merch included in gate fee + 1 -3 free tasters and 25% discount on drinks
Level 3 pricing is aimed at the serious types who are planning on spending the whole time there. Personnaly I'd be happy spending up to $60 - $70 as long as it was justified. I.e. that keeps me in drinks all day and a takeaway beer glass / t-shirt or similar.

4. What you expect for your entrance fee
See above

5. Would you pre-book tickets?
Definately. With a family / kids sport / hectic life nothing gets done if I can't preplan it. Also means I don't have to worry about standing in a line to get in / miss out on the limited number of merch etc.

6. How long should the event run for - an afternoon / evening / day etc
I would say start it around lunch time and run through till early evening. Provide a list of sponsoring local establshments who serve the exhibitors beers so that after the festivus the drunks can continue their session.

7. Is there a place for other things like cider at the event?
DEFINITELY. In fact - I'd suggest that the chance of success would be directly related to the variety you can offer - and that you expand it beyond the local craftbreweries. See if you can get a keg or two from the Wigg and Penn, Mathilda Bay, Mountain Goat, Holgate etc. Hell - if the brewery is tacked onto a winery get them to bring some wine etc. We accuse wine drinkers of snobbing off beer lovers. No reason to do the same - I know heaps of beer drinkers wives who would come along to a festival if they could get wine and a cheese plate for the arvo.

Also - make sure that everything on tap is top quality craft beer. Each brewrey has to fully commit and not just a means of getting rid of old stock. Nothing worse than dragging people you're trying to convert to craftbeer along just to have older stale beer etc.

EDIT :
OH yeah - and team up with local food purveyors with a similar approach to craftbrewers. i.e. the mobile pig on spit mob and get em to roast some local pigs / lambs / cows. Local restaurants might be interested - I know of one foody chef who would get on board.


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## Aaron (25/2/10)

Without trying to rub it I just got back from San Francisco where I went to a few SF Beer week events that were fantastic. I think something similar to what they do would be great so here are my thoughts.

_1. Time of year that is best to hold the event_

Not super important so long as you are net getting rained on. The double ipa festival I went to was in the middle of SF winter, outside and packed.

_2. Location - City / Suburbs / Hotel / Other venue_

At a bar/venue where people can kick on and there is stuff other than beer for partners would be good.

_3. What you would pay to enter the event_

The two main events I went to was the gala opening for beer wee and a double ipa festival.

The gala opening had about 40 breweries with 1 to 3 taps each. Each brewery had their own staff here. The event ran for about four hours with a vip hour at the start for press and people willing to pay an extra $10. The basic ticket price was $45 which got you a really nice commemorative glass and unlimited tasting. The glass probably held about 125ml at a guess. This was great as you didn't need to worry about tickets or any of that stuff and the price was high enough that you got people that wanted to taste beer and not people that just wanted to get drunk.

The double ipa festival had about 60 beers poured by festival staff and not by the breweries themselves. Pricing here was $35 I think which got you a glass and five tastings. Tastings were a little smaller at this one. Crowd was much larger but it wasn't as well laid out. People also tended to come drink their five tastings and take off. People didn't hang around like they did at the gala. This one ran for around six hours from memory.


_4. What you expect for your entrance fee_
See above

_5. Would you pre-book tickets?_
Provided reasonable information was provided about the event.

_6. How long should the event run for - an afternoon / evening / day etc_

I think an afternoon should do it. I think you should have the breweries there pouring their own beers but do it at a venue people can kick on at.


_7. Is there a place for other things like cider at the event?_

I would stick with beer for the actual festival so it's not confused. However, you do want to have food and other things available.



Maybe the SF model won't fit perfectly as the beer scene there is years ahead of where we are here but I'm sure there is something we can learn from it.


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## jbirbeck (25/2/10)

Gulf Brewery said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> There are discussions occuring amongst the SA microbreweries and some other people about what people would like to see in a Beer Festival. This is the chance for those in SA to have their say about beer festivals, but we welcome comments from other states.
> 
> ...



1. any time of year is good, just choose the venue wisely. I've gone to a few wine versions and would love to see a beer one.
2. Winter - Convention centre or similar. Summer - outdoors, anywhere is good. 
3. Depends what you're offering. I'd fork out up to $100 for myself if what was offered was EVERY microbrewed beer that I could taste and talk to reps from the brewers. Wine versions, tables set up in a hall, wine available for tasting poured by winery reps free for a chat about the wine and a tasting glass to take home - enjoyed everyone. No wankers there to get pissed but people do but they maintain composure. Shutzenfest is awful...avoid anything like it at all costs. Under $50 and I'm there. Mentioned above about tiered entry - free or nominal for Designated drivers but they don't get to taste. 
4. depends - the more the entrance the more I expect. I'm not paying $20 just to get in. $20 to get in with a free glass and I have to pay for a 'flight' of tasters...fine but don't shaft me on the flight
5. Yep, sure would. 
6. depends on what you want to do. If its tasters I want all afternoon. I won't hang around in the evening - Thats when the F*&Kwits come out and things get unruly. I'd be inclined to take my family too if it was set up right (Ie not a drinking festival but a festival of quality craft beer TASTINGS) so I'd want in early 12/1ish and out 5ish. If its a drinking festival I won't go near it even if all craft beers are there for the tasting.
7. yes there is, but as a side note like food...Not a main attraction.

One of the best things I've done is grab a tasting paddle from the Local in St Kilda. Do that and I'm there. Have the option for people to buy masses of beer to drink there and I'm out. Sure sell it to be taken away but not to drink there. Wine events I've been to do this and are great.


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## Jazman (25/2/10)

a scaled down octoberfest or like the canstatter wasen but no big sideshows but no need for the mass a pint size is good


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## Gulf Brewery (25/2/10)

Thanks to those who have replied in this thread. After the initial feedback, we had another quick meeting to discuss the comments and it brought up another topic.

We discussed a food / beer matching dinner (sit down meal) as separate part of the event. This would be run outside of the main beer tasting event, possibly the night before or the night of the beer festival. 

Thoughts on that?

Cheers
Peter


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## Aaron (26/2/10)

Gulf Brewery said:


> We discussed a food / beer matching dinner (sit down meal) as separate part of the event. This would be run outside of the main beer tasting event, possibly the night before or the night of the beer festival.
> 
> Thoughts on that?


I think it's a great idea. Provided you can find the right people run it. I think you should aim it as a higher end event too. For a good dinner and matching beers I think you should look at least around the $100 mark. Provide a good qulaity meal with decent size portions. I think you want to impress people and you want to aim at people that are not shy of spending a couple of dollars too.


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## jbirbeck (26/2/10)

Gulf Brewery said:


> We discussed a food / beer matching dinner (sit down meal) as separate part of the event. This would be run outside of the main beer tasting event, possibly the night before or the night of the beer festival.
> 
> Thoughts on that?
> 
> ...



Yes yes YES. Would love to see this.


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## domonsura (26/2/10)

I agree that a higher end event in terms of both entry cost and behaviour would be more desireable to help weed out the unwanted mugs that spoil it for everyone. I think that trying to get some foodies on board to this end would be a good idea - successful wine/beer festivals in NZ that I have been involved with organising/attended have involved both breweries/wineries _and_ local restaurants & other *quality* food vendors (not hotdog stands & candy floss) and made it a festival about both - which appeals to a very wide audience. SA has the best of both as far as I am concerned covering all sorts of ethnic groups and foods - the possibilities are almost endless here for that reason, so it would be an opportunity to make it more of a family event with a better standard of patronage, more vendors and and most likely an improved overall standard of behaviour all around. Beer + beer + beer can see even the best behaved person perhaps 'lose some inhibitions', but throw the ability for everyone to toddle over to a good selection of food stalls etc, and that can be pulled up short. It also gives an attraction for the rest of the family and a wider audience in order to get more people exposed to the beer that we want people to know about. In my experience, pointing things in the direction of responsible drinking in the first place in this fashion leads to a very good event that people take away good memories of, look forward to year after year and will travel to without thinking about it. These sorts of things I would imagine would also be looked on very favourably by licencing as well, which can be an obstacle for anything focusing solely on the alcohol aspect. I'd support and help with something like this in a heartbeat.........


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## Boots (26/2/10)

I'd be reluctant to host a dinner party any where near the same time your festival. I think it's a great idea to do a dinner party too - but I'd seperate it as a standalone event with at least a month gap for two reasons:

1 - If you want to make any decent money from both events you need people to be able to commit to spending some cash. Doing the two together might make it hard for people to go to both as they'll lay out at least $70 on a dinner and then similar the next day. There would be some hardcore people who would front up for both - but more that couldn't justify it or fit it into the schedule

2 - I don't think the Adelaide beer consumer market is big enough to support multiple events in short succession. There's simply not enough awareness / desire / population to support them back to back - YET. Once awareness is up and there's a good track record of success i reckon you could do it, but people will be cautious about dedicating hte amkount of money and time required for back to back micro brewery events.


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## jayse (26/2/10)

I have a few ideas, maybe good, maybe so so.
I like the idea of a already licensed entertainment venue and the ablitily to remain open longer into the evening, while I see some people against what might possibly end up a slightly messy end of the night I think for the breweries to make it really worth their while it should start early and run as late as possible.
It can still be quite a family friendly event for the afternoon but I think kicking on after sundown is a must for the breweries themselves to captilize fully.

Just a thought but I don't think we can use the way the american festivals are run money wise as for a start the cost of the beer is minimal there and most breweries at festivals in the states would possibly in fact not be making money.
They would pay to be there for simply promoting their product but they don't recieve anything from the tickets sales, they are expect to provide the beer free to the festival, its not so much a problem for those breweries there but there wouldn't be many australian breweries that could do it.

Therefore a ticket with unlimited samples maybe wouldn't work I don't think, the best way is a smallish as possible cover charge to get in (you could have glassware for sale optionally) and you buy as many sample tickets as you like. If every brewery staffs their own bar or section of bar then I think it would be easiest to just each take cash for pints and schooners, the ticketing system would just be for samples, the breweries then redemn the tickets with the organiser at the end and keep the cash in their respective tills.
I think bitter and twisted is you are expected to give your first 50 or so samples away free, ie you can't redemn any cash for your first 50 tickets, I don't think you need to use that system though, just work out the costs and each brewery pays there share to be there.

In the unlimited ticket situation you could have every brewery taken a equal part of the ticket sales but one brewery in this case may not sell much beer at all but make as much as the brewery that was pouring beer non stop for hours.
The only way a festival could run like that is if one business brought all the beer from everyone up front because the money from every beer is going into one account. So a hotel/bottleshop could do that easy enough but I don't think thats quite what you want here, then again it could work though.

I little entertainment wouldn't hurt and there are plenty of original musicians around with wide appeal that could entertain a diverse crowd.

As far as venue goes maybe worth looking into italian clubs etc, they are licensed for alc and entertainment and have big function rooms with bars and plenty of room for microbreweries portable bar set ups, they even have a stage, plenty of boys rooms.
The one on carrington down from coopes ale house I think would work well. Either way there is plenty of rooms the same around the place.

Hire the Gov for the night and go out with the Zep boys  :super: 

This sort of thing I don't think theres really any bad ideas, you have to gather as many ideas as you can before you continue.
Anyway you have my support.

Cheers
Jayse


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## domonsura (26/2/10)

One thing I wanted to ask though is - in terms of what is being looked at - define 'beer festival'......when I see 'beer festival', I think large event, multiple beer tents involving multiple breweries/vendors, at least several hundred people if not into the thousands (otherwise what's the point, it would barely cover it's own costs and be worth the effort) and an event run over at least an entire day into the evening with entertainment etc, if not a whole weekend. these are the things that the word 'festival' brings into my mind. If we are talking one afternoon or evening, with a beer/food matching dinner - I don't think it's a festival. It's more of a beer appreciation 'event'. I mean this in terms of not being able to call a night out at the pub with a couple of bands a 'music festival'. 

So are we talking 'festival', or are we talking about a smaller event? (Or is that what's trying to be decided?) 
A beer & food matching dinner would be fine with a smaller event, but not very practical at all for a larger one in terms of simple logistics. Perhaps a decision needs to be made regarding whether this is an event to promote the vendors products, or make money. It's not easy to do both really and keep it all under control. Smaller 'sample' glasses allow patrons to sample more variety within their 'limit', and also allows vendors to make a little bit of money to help pay for the inevitable higher wage costs that go with an event of this nature.

I do second Jayses comments on a ticketing system for sampler payments at vendors stands. This is what I have seen used in the past with great success, each patron would with their entry fee receive a tasting vessel and a small set number of tickets with which to 'purchase' samples. They can then attend a central point ot points to purchase more if required, or this can even be done with a vending machine/machines. This is perfect in terms of the way it works with no cash handling for each vendor or patrons, and it all gets sorted out at the end with organisers counting tickets and paying out the final figure. It's much better from a security perspective, and tidier from a patrons and vendors perspective because you don't end up with attendees wandering around with pockets full of small change - which i can tell you from experience means chaos later in the event for the vendors - longer queues because half cut customers are trying to count change/see change/drop & pick up change......


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## domonsura (27/2/10)

(Sorry if this is a bit of a read, but I have been thinking about this much of the day (now yesterday/last night) following my last posts..please feel free to ignore if you want to )

It occurred to me Pedro, that you had asked some specific questions and _I_ had commented but hadn't really given any direct input per question - sorry about that. Haven't had a chance to get back to it, busy making pizzas for the local brewers while they learn how to judge beers  
First, Boots has a point - Adelaide (IMO as well ) might not have the market to support multiple events - I believe the best must be made of the opportunity to make an event a success to the largest good market possible. So I would propose to get as much into the event as possible, in order for it to be more than just a pi**fest the likes have been seen already. Organising a drinking fest is easy. A drinking event is a police event/s waiting to happen, not an entertainment event. That in mind I have added comments below. Just my opinion, I'm not short of those clearly, but I would really love to see an event of this nature. Stuff like Shutzenfest no longer appeals to me. Time for a clean slate.

A few things to get the topic started.
1. Time of year that is best to hold the event.

Climate would be my main concern. Both for the brewer and the patron. SA is nasty during summer 45 degrees is not _sensible _drinking weather. Brewing into Summer is not fun, so I reckon a Spring event. Although I am not 100% sure because I have never brewed beyond 100 litres + at once personally, I would assume moving the temperature _up_ for a larger brew is a litlte easier than keeping it down? So brewing through Winter towards spring would be perhaps be better for the brewer. South Australia is *beautiful *in spring as everything comes back to life  The climate is awesome, everybody is looking forward to anything that shakes off the winter chill. Perfect time to get out and make the most of that little weather window before mother nature tries to bake us all.

2. Location - City / Suburbs / Hotel / Other venue

This would depend heavily on the focus of the event, and the desired patron, what I mean is if what you want to achieve is maximum patronage (and trouble), put it in the city on a Saturday. You can achieve a significant change in the type of patron simply by moving it to a Sunday and moving the venue far enough away from city central that it requires a bit more financial or organisational commitment in order simply attend. This may drop numbers, but you will end up with less trouble makers who have attended perhaps more because it was a convenient drinking event & they _can_, than because they are interested in supporting or learning more about SA breweries & quality beer. The old chestnut that people's behaviour might be separated by mere financial means in terms of putting an event out of their financial range is not always true. There's a lot of disposable income in Australia, and in my experience a rich drunken a**hole is harder to deal with than an a**hole with nothing in his wallet. The one with an empty wallet is aware that he has to get home somehow...& he may have to walk home if he runs out of cash - so he leaves either when he can still drive, or when his mates leave or while he can still afford a taxi. The rich one is there for the duration - even if it means being removed (usually under pathetic drunken protest). This means that there is significant gain in maketing the event towards those who are more likely to moderate their own behaviour, than those who can simply afford the price tag.

3. What you would pay to enter the event

Depends on what the event actually is. If it's a day long event, and it's simply an entry fee with glass provided and say, enough 'tickets' to get 10 x 200ml samples, realistically maybe $75.00, but up to $100 if there is entertainment like live bands etc, and the ability to wander around and take in a bit more of a 'scene' than just the inside of one building i.e: more than one beer tent, music and enough food variety that each person is likely to find something that appeals to them with beer, entertainment and food to help them stretch the day out ina well behaved non-plastered fashion. Over the $100 mark and you're not likely to get enough takers to make up numbers required to pay the bills/make it worth the effort. Too low and you'll end up with everybody, and chaos will ensue - vendors will not be able to cope for long enough, facilities will not cope at all and everybody will go away with a bad final impression and not come back next year. Last impressions last when it comes to an event. Patrons who go away happy will have spent more, & will come back next year. 

4. What you expect for your entrance fee

A fun time! A bit of entertainment, a few drinks and the ability to get all this without seeing Friday night Hindley street play out before my eyes. I'm no wowser, but at nearly 40, those days are long gone & I can't be bothered with all of that. But I would happily pull out my wallet at a good event that actually promotes SA beers & food properly with style and class (as it should be) - and then I'll get in a taxi and go home (without causing trouble because the bar has closed and I don't feel like going home yet.....)

5. Would you pre-book tickets?
Yes, I would happily pre-book and pay for something like this.


6. How long should the event run for - an afternoon / evening / day etc
A day long event would be good, but this requires a more attention to detail and facilities (i.e: a portaloo that gets used for an hour might cop a hammering - but what happens when it's full? What happens if it's needed all day?) . While you don't want people necessarily drinking all day, you can organise other things to take up some of the morning (such as a brew demonstration, or other non-drinking focussed activities) to 'set the stage' so to speak for the rest of the day for those who are interested. I know this might seem like asking a bit much, but an event like this has so many possibilities - you may as well ask for more than ask for less the way I see it. In events I have been involved with in the past, I have observed that hobby groups and clubs are usually more than happy to step up to the mark and provide some pre-drinking entertainment/interest group activities for nothing. There _can _be ongoing benefits for several interests if some co-ordination can be achieved. More people interested in good beer = more people who want to craft brew/buy craft brew = more people who may look at a beer as a career option = more (people & skills) resources to industry = stronger industry = more market prescence, more influence, = the ability to achieve change in stuff like ridiculous inequities in excise legislation (as one example, but there are many others)

7. Is there a place for other things like cider at the event?

Yep. (Just like there's a place for my wife attending this event with me...lol). I view cidermakers as brewers. There's a significant amount of skill involved with making a complex cider and I don't mind the odd cider myself  A wider audience is a larger market, simple as that. Especially if the missus has had a few ciders :lol:



( Apologies in advance for posting twice in a row.....) 

And no. I don't sleep.....


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## jayse (2/3/10)

The kings head one is possibly a good structure in someways to follow, however good or bad it was they pulled of a show, I gather without incident. They have everything in place to run an event succesfully in the city, to make it better is offer the brewers a better deal.
Then they will all show up with the works, bells on and so will we with our mates and family and it would be great.
So the only flaw in that structure is how too much of the money possibly goes to the kings head rather then the brewers.
I gather this is why Samba want to run the show themselves.


I don't think people need worry about crowd control or bad behaviour, some events can have bar staff who are irresponsible in service of alcohol, wine festivals are sometimes the most shocking and these are most often just sunday afternoon events. So called respectable young couples getting even drunker then I can imagine.

I don't know how it was at the kings head but I am sure it was fine for all, either way you can trust this event will have a responsible approach to serving alcohol, when brewers are bar staff serving their pride, joy and hard work they don't put up with rude people let alone drunk idiots. No beer for you! 
I wouldn't worry about that at all, even in the case of larger events it not hard to have good crowd controllers for those that are no longer welcome or don't take kindly to being cut off.

I think it needs to go later though, it can get louder later into the evening and theres nothing wrong with that, fun times.

I think with what boots mentioned children could possibly be free for the afternoon, Pedro can give em a balloon and paint their face ;-) and the cover charge should be cheap, then how much beer tickets you buy is up to you.


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