What does beer have to do with Debbie Does Music? Well, hopefully, where there is good beer, there is good music! And yes, that was the case last Saturday when I headed out to Ventura for the day.
The 2nd Annual California Beer Festival was held at lovely Mission Park. The day started sort of gloomy, and the lines to get in were just a tad overwhelming (I’m being nice, the lines SUCKED!) But since the festival went from 1500 to 4000 tickets sold (selling out two years in a row) I took it for ‘growing pains’ and chatted with the peeps around me while we waited.
Once in the park, we all got wrist bands and 3 0z beer glasses. Our mission? To work our way through the park and sample as many micro brewed selections as we could, while maintaining our upstanding citizenship. That was a challenge for some, especially towards the end of the day.I tried many beers, Sierra Nevada, some exclusives from Trader Joes, Blue Moon, but my favorite of the day was the Red Trolly Ale from Karl Strauss. 3 ounces of that was just not enough for me. I went back a few times.
Oh wait…the reason
I was there? To cover the live music! Whoops…got a little side tracked.
So there was live music.
There were two stages, one on the hill, one near the food vendors. The bands included The Blue Baron Band, Shawn Jones, My Brothers Band, The Grinders, Dr. M, and the favorite and headliner of the day, Ventura’s own Rey Fresco.
The stages alternated through out the day, so
attendees had a chance to take part in both sides of the festival. Good planning on the part of the festival.
Just as Rey Fresco took the stage, the sun made an appearance. It felt good to sit in the sun, finish my ale, and listen to the fresh sound coming from the stage.
I will attend again next year, but some things I’ll do different….get there earlier to find free parking, wear more comfortable shoes, and eat lunch before I get there…the lines were too long at all the food vendors.
Printed by permission. Visit Debbie's blog @ http://www.exurbmagazine.com/
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