Get Microbrew Fever In Cadillac!

Sept. 16, 2016

Last year the Cadillac Craft Beer Festival sold out at 1,200 tickets. This year it’s upping the available tickets to 1,500 but expecting to sell out again. If you’re a fan of sampling new and unique microbrews from around Michigan, those numbers are all the more reason to get your tickets early for this popular Cadillac gathering.

FESTIVAL TAKEOVER

The Cadillac Craft Beer Festival, now in its sixth year, started as something else entirely. "When we began the festival, it was a Fall Fever festival to celebrate the completion of the reconstruction of our Main Street in 2000," explained festival co-chair Joy VanDrie, who is also executive director of the Downtown Cadillac Association. The craft beer event was initially a much smaller part of the Fall Fever festivities, but the microbrews quickly took hold. "The Fall Fever fest only ran for a couple more years, then the microbrew fest pretty much took over," VanDrie said.

SMALL BUT MIGHTY

Credit the popularity to the Cadillac Craft Beer Festival’s knack for sleuthing out the state’s newest stellar vendors and brews. "We will have things like Founders Brewing Co. and Right Brain Brewery, of course," she said, "but we really work hard to find smaller brewers from all over Michigan – and especially Up North here." The festival’s own local volunteers have proved to be an important resource for digging out microbrews that are lesser-known standouts. "We have over 100 volunteers who are always finding interesting niche breweries and small brewers, and they let us know about them so we can do our best to include them in the festival," VanDrie said. "Some of the regional beer festivals get so very big, that often the smaller brewers don’t get asked to participate, so we try to bring in as many new people as possible."

MICROBREW VILLAGE

The festival itself takes place in downtown Cadillac’s City Park under two large tents. The brewers and food vendors bring additional tents of their own, so the park is transformed into a kind of microbrew village.

"The festival is in such a great scenic location, right between Lake Cadillac and the Clam Lake Beer Company," VanDrie said. "And it’s neat because it’s on the lawn, so we add in games like giant Jenga and Cornhole." Music adds to the fun, with entertainment running 3pm–7:30pm.

MUSIC ’N’ BREWS

Delilah DeWylde and The Lost Boys will perform their original country/honkytonk mix of tunes, and regional favorite The Crane Wives also will take the stage. The entire extravaganza, VanDrie said, is like having a big party in your Up North backyard – but with your very own microbrewers and food trucks serving up the beer and eats.

"I think people really love this event because it’s so very casual," VanDrie said.

"The brewers like it because they enjoy the kind of people that the festival draws – everyone is so friendly – and there’s such a nice, chill feeling. Everyone is just into trying the food and drink and having fun."

The 2016 Cadillac Craft Beer Festival will take place September 24, 9am– 10pm. Tickets start at $25 (which includes five drink tickets). Cadillaccraftbeerfest.com or 231-775-0657.