If you like great beer combined with great music, the first annual East Kootenay Beer Festival should be right up your alley. Taking place on Saturday, June 16 at the Mountain Golf Course in Fairmont Hot Springs, the festival will be brew-packed with beers of all flavours and persuasions. Roughly 15 breweries will be showcasing better than 50 beers and Fairmont Hot Springs Resort marketing manager Marion Garden is certain there will be a beer for every palate. “We have a mixture of some of the bigger breweries and some of the smaller breweries, so it gives people an opportunity to taste lots of different beers they’ve maybe never had before,” she said. Garden said the motivation behind holding the first annual festival actually came from people who attend the East Kootenay Wine Festival. She said so many people had asked for a beer version over the years that they finally gave in, especially based on how popular the wine festival has been over the last decade. “A lot of people have been asking for quite a long time for the beer festival, and some people just don’t like wine,” Garden explained. “It seemed like the perfect thing for the summer.” Garden said she was extremely pleased with the reception she received from breweries, both local and even international, and the festival boasts a wide range of breweries, almost all of which will be showcasing more than one beer. Notable breweries include Okanagan Spring Brewery, Nelson Brewing Company, Cannery Brewing Company and even the Yukon Brewery, alongside international beers Grolsch and Pilsner Urquell. There will also be live musical entertainment in the form of local band Thinking Man and Calgary Celtic rock group Fraid Knot. “We’re excited, there’s a good range,” said Garden. “And even people who aren’t beer fans might find that the festival gives them an opportunity to find something that they really like.” The festival runs from 4 to 9 p.m. and is a strictly 19-plus event. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. There are also resort and camping packages available by calling the resort at 1-800-663-4979. Those who attend will receive a souvenir glass and a limited number of tasting tickets for two-ounce samplers, and more tickets may also be purchased at the event. Prizes will be given to the three most popular beers at the end of the festival. For more information visit fairmonthotsprings.com/beer-festival.

Invermere Valley Echo