Sipping craft beer along the river

Petaluma River Craft Beer Festival on Saturday|

Forget wine tasting. Sudsy brews will be filling glasses next weekend as kegs are tapped for the second annual Petaluma River Craft Beer Festival on Saturday, Sept. 13.

With views of the Petaluma River from Water Street, the festival boasts a lineup of 19 local breweries, an apple cider company, live music and plenty of food to go with all that beer.

Last year’s craft beer festival was a sellout with 750 tickets bought and 900 people in attendance, including volunteers, musicians and everyone else who made the day a success for event hosts, the Petaluma Area Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club of Petaluma Valley.

“We were going to be very happy if we had 400 people there, which was our goal,” said Onita Pellegrini, executive director of the Petaluma Area Chamber of Commerce. “We were overwhelmed last year with the success of it. We were overwhelmed by how supportive the community was and how everyone had just a wonderful time on what was a beautiful afternoon. We’re hoping for the same again this year.”

The North Bay has become an important region in the craft beer industry, and Petaluma is a strong player in the field with its growing number of breweries. The festival is designed to celebrate local brews and give residents the opportunity to sample them all in one place.

“Craft breweries are a new niche market,” said Pellegrini. “Petaluma has a lot of them, and this area in general has a lot of them. We’ve focused on keeping the craft beer festival just local breweries, with the exception of one from Marin and one from Napa, but all the others are from Sonoma County.”

The food vendors are also all local, as well as the bands - Randy and the Special Agents, Sugar Moon and The Fossils.

Due to space limitations on Water Street, tickets to the craft beer festival are limited to 1,000. Pellegrini said that half of the tickets have already been sold and she anticipates the rest will sell out before the event.

“I recommend people don’t wait to get their tickets,” she said. “It would be nice to be able to have more people than that, but 1,000 is the largest number the space can handle. The decision we have for next year is whether to stay in that location, which I think contributes to the ambiance of the event, or move somewhere else where it can grow bigger. I think for a few years we will stay on Water Street. This is what the city built the Water Street promenade for, and it’s not utilized enough. I hope this event encourages other groups to hold their events there, too.”

The festival raised $10,000 last year, which was split between the chamber and Petaluma Valley Rotary. Pellegrini said the funds go to support various programs of both organizations, such as Leadership Petaluma and other programs designed to benefit the community.

Tickets are $40 in advance and include a souvenir beer glass and 10 tickets for beer and food tastings.

Designated driver tickets are available at a discount for $20 and include six tickets for food and non-alcoholic beverage sampling. Admissions is strictly for 21 and older only.

To purchase tickets and to learn more about the breweries and food vendors participating, go online to petalumarivercraftbeerfestival.org.

(Contact Yovanna Bieberich at yovanna.bieberich@arguscourier.com)

PETALUMA CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

When: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13

Where: Water Street

Tickets: $40 in advance and includes a souvenir beer glass and 10 tickets for beer and food tastings. Designated driver tickets are $20 and include six tickets for food and beverage tastings. Admission is for ages 21 and older only.

Information: petalumarivercraftbeerfestival.org

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