Fairs are known for being family friendly, but that doesn’t mean that alcohol-related events can’t coexist as part of the fair and help bring in important demographics. Fairs around the country have introduced events focusing on craft- and local-beers. During the “Beer Festivals as a Marketing Tool” sessions at the 123rd International Association of Fairs and Expositions Conference, Dec. 8-12 at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, Scott Jones of Tennessee State Fair in Nashville and Danny Aguilar of Delaware State Fair in Harrington spoke about how they’ve been able to hop onto the craft beer trend with little public backlash.
Tennessee State Fair was only 120 days away when one of the staff members brought up the idea of a craft brewers festival. With about 90 days of planning, Taste of Tennessee Craft Brewers Fest on Sept. 6 was able to secure 100-percent participation from each of the 26 craft brewers in the state. This marked the first all-Tennessee craft beer festival, which helped the event stand out from other beer-related gatherings.
The festival was set in the middle of the racetrack on the grounds.
“Our opening night attendance increased and we attracted first-time fairgoers,” said Jones. “That was huge to us, because the majority of people that attended the event never thought about the fair or attended the fair.”
He said the main demographic was in the 26-39 age range, and that 32 percent of baby boomers prefer craft beers more than regular brews — a number that increases to more than 40 percent when referring to millennials.
Aguilar said that it was a challenge to convince the 80-person board of directors at Delaware State Fair that having a beer competition was the right thing for the fair.
Alcohol and beer don’t necessarily fit into the family-friendly image fairs want to preserve.
“You’re worried about sampling, people getting drunk and being around kids, and how you integrate the event with your fair and festival,” said Aguilar. “There’s a culture between traditional roots and family values that our board of directors was trying to balance with putting on a beer festival, but we’re always trying to attract new individuals.”
He called the result — Battle of the Brews, beer sampling and home brew contest — a baby step to introducing larger events.
“The first thing I would do in order to host a beer festival or competition is to sit down with the local agricultural industry because this is Agro-Tourism,” said Aguilar. “For us, having that buy-in with the Department of Agriculture was very important and they absolutely endorsed us.” The state ended up sponsoring the event for about $15,000.
Danny Aguilar and Scott Jones spoke at this year's IAFE Convention. (VT Photo)
Delaware State Fair decided to focus on a home brew competition that, in its first year, received 268 entries. The next year ballooned to 328 entries, while the third year was capped at 100 due to another regional contest close by during the same time frame. For the fourth annual Battle of the Brews home brew contest, Aguilar said he expects somewhere around 500 entries. The contest costs $5 per entry.
But the fair didn’t want to exclude beer fans who may not be involved with brewing. In conjunction with the battle’s tasting by judges from the American Homebrewers Association, the fair partnered with five local breweries who provided two beers each. The free event, capped at 500 people, allowed participants to sample each beer and vote for the best beer in Delaware. Dogfish Head’s Namaste Belgian-style white beer was named this year’s winner. The fair didn’t charge any of the craft breweries for participation.
The event also brought out a new demographic.
“We surveyed about 100 folks and about 75 had never been to the fair, so if you extrapolate that out, it was a homerun,” said Aguilar.
Neither fair charges the breweries a fee for participating in the event, and warns that fees will scare breweries away from participating.
“When I first worked the P&L I was thinking it would be a great opportunity to charge the brewery, but as soon as I said there was a fee I had to backtrack very quickly,” added Aguilar. “Do not charge them. In some situations they’re traveling hundreds of miles which is a huge time investment, and you’re getting all of their social media and marketing.”
Delaware State Fair’s event primarily serves as a marketing tool, with no charge for attendees at the event. At Tennessee State Fair, the event has potential to be a moneymaker and marketing success.
In its first year with a 90-day planning timeline, Taste of Tennessee Craft Brewers Festival attracted around 1,000 guests. Ticket prices include a mason jar-shaped tasting glass and fair admission, and started at $40. VIP admission cost $75 and allowed 100 guests early access for shorter lines and more personal interaction with the brewers.
Jones estimated that the event cost about $15,000 because several hard costs, such as security and cleaning staff, were just reallocated from the fair. The event grossed around $20,000.
“Really, you could probably net $70,000 if you had 2,000 people come to this event,” said Jones, who added that the fair partnered with Rhizome Productions to produce the event.
Tennessee State Fair minimized public backlash for the event by promoting it separate from the fair when that made sense.
At one point, Tennessee State Fair’s Facebook page posted a link to the beer festival that resulted in one negative comment; however, after separating marketing there were no further issues.
“If you have something like boxing or MMA at your fair, you have to market to the people interested in that, not to the families,” said Jones.
The Del Mar (Calif.) Fairgrounds hosts a popular San Diego (Calif.) International Beer Competition and Festival, which is one of the 10 largest beer festivals in the country, according to Media Relations and Public Information Director Linda Zweig. There were 922 entries from 19 countries entered in the competition in 2013. The festival serves up more than 407 beers and hasn’t experienced public backlash, with tickets ranging $55-$90 per person. The fair decided to try an additional festival this year.
Another way to bring beer into a fairground is to create an event that keeps the focus on food, but has a significant craft beer component. Big Bite Bacon Festival, produced by Big Bite Events, drew more than 4,500 attendees to San Diego County Fair on June 16.
The company’s Mark Entner said that promotion for the event focused on the bacon and the family-friendly aspect, with “Sober Pig” and “Piglet” tickets available for those who wouldn’t be indulging or children. Breweries came out in full force, providing samples of 50 beers. Many beers were from local San Diego breweries, but entry wasn’t restricted to craft beers.
“Being that the Big Bite Bacon Fest was on Father’s Day last year, the media in San Diego named us one of the top five things to do with your Dad on Father’s Day in San Diego,” said Entner. Admission ranged $40-$80, and Big Bite Events is looking to expand ‘foodtainment’ across the nation over the next two years.
Interviewed for this story: Danny Aguilar, (302) 398-5903; Mark Entner, (949) 514-9659; Scott Jones, (615) 852-8997; Linda Zweig, (858) 792-4262