Skip to content

Williamsburg Craft Beer Festival returning for fifth year

Author
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:

The Williamsburg Rotary Club and Young Emerging Professionals of Williamsburg announced the Williamsburg Craft Beer Festival will return for another round of brews, live music and food truck temptations April 29.

Event organizer Catherine Smagala said the fifth festival promises more of what people enjoyed in previous years.

The festival has sold out each year since its inception in 2014. The inaugural event hosted 750 people, and the years since have accommodated 1,000 at the festival site, located in the courtyard between the Williamsburg Regional Library and the Stryker Center on North Boundary Street.

“I think there’s definitely a demand for craft beer in the Williamsburg area,” Smagala said, noting the influx of nearby breweries; most recently, Billsburg Brewery opened in James City County Marina in October. “We’re expecting it to sell out again.”

The event also heralds an opportunity to support a several local charities: the Avalon Center, Child Development Resources, Here for the Girls and Literacy for Life. During its first four years, the festival generated more than $75,000 for the four organizations.

“We’ve been working with the same charities since the beginning,” Smagala said. “There’s a variety of different causes that the charities touch.”

Smagala said the band, food trucks and brewers appearing at the event will be announced closer to the festival date. At least 20 beers from 10 breweries will be available onsite.

“I think people just love to try something new,” Smagala said, noting the limited availability of many craft beer creations adds a certain novelty to the proceedings. “People like to be apart of new, fun, hip things, and it’s definitely a new, fun, hip thing.”

Want to go?

General admission is $35 and VIP tickets are $50, available starting Feb. 21 at williamsburgbeerfest.com. The festival runs 1-5 p.m. April 29 outside the Williamsburg Regional Library; VIP ticket holders get in at noon.

Updates will be posted at facebook.com/williamsburgbeerfest as they are announced.

Glasses sport the Williamsburg Craft Beer Festival logo.
Glasses sport the Williamsburg Craft Beer Festival logo.