This weekend marks a rare occurrence in little Eugene, two beer events on the same day. Well, I may have overstated that a bit. The first event is at least equal parts blues and brews, if not tilting in blues’ favor. And the second event is not really a beer event at all, but more of an event that happens to take place at and around a brewery. Confused yet? Perfect, here we go.
Willamette Valley Blues and Brews Festival
Tomorrow afternoon, the 2nd Annual Willamette Valley Blues and Brews Festival kicks-off in Springfield’s Island Park. All of the information for the 2-day event is available on the Festival’s Website. Here is the festival’s beer list, cuffed from their website and reformatted for easier perusing.
| Brewery | Beer | ||
| Block 15 | Boneyard Beer | Bone-a-Fide Pale Ale | Black 13 |
| High St. (McMenamins) | Copper Moon Pale Ale | Hammerhead | |
| Hop Valley | IPA (no name given) | Blonde (no name given) | |
| Hopworks | Rise Up Red | HUB Lager | |
| Kona | Longboard Lager | Wailua Wheat | |
| Ninkasi | Total Domination | Radiant Summer Ale | |
| Oakshire | Watershed IPA | Line Dry Rye | |
| Redhook | Copperhook | Blonde Ale | |
| Sierra Nevada | Pale Ale | Anniversary | |
| Three Creeks | Knotty Blonde | Old Prospector Pale | |
| Widmer | W’10 Pitch Black IPA | Drifter Pale Ale | |
Three blonde ales out of 23 beers, apparently the festival has a type. Block 15 and Three Creeks are a couple nice additions for us townies who can’t be bothered to make the trek to Corvallis or Sisters.
I know the festival is still in its infancy, but it could only help if they spent some extra time securing beers and publicizing the ‘brews’ aspect of the event. For example, while the list of performers is displayed prominently on the main page of the festival’s website, to find the list of beers, you have to select ‘Brewers’ from the ‘Vendors’ dropdown. And up until a couple weeks ago, only Ninkasi and Sierra Nevada were listed. Eugene/Springfield is hungry for more quality brewfests. I would hate to see this become the Willamette Valley Blues Festival (with beer garden).
4th Annual Whiteaker Block Party
Saturday welcomes the return of the Whiteaker Block Party, a free community gathering and street fair that shows off the best of Eugene’s most eclectic neighborhood. 37 bands are scheduled to play across 6 stages; a schedule is available at the Event’s Website.
Ninkasi, who happens to be located in the heart of Whiteaker, will once again be hosting one of the stages and a beer garden at the brewery. The newly-finished patio area should be a welcome change to the paved lot of years past.
Interestingly, two of the bands playing at the Blues and Brews Festival, Volifonix and Jerry Zybach, will also be appearing at the Whiteaker Block Party.
So, there you go. I don’t want to hear any complaining that there is nothing to do this weekend. Get your lawns mowed early and go have some fun.
Cheers!
Kevin