Lagunitas Beer Circus was a feast for the eyes and the taste buds

Chicago, London, Seattle, Los Angeles, Petaluma. Rivertown may lack the fame of the first four metropolises, but Petaluma has bested them all in one measure: the size of its Lagunitas Beer Circus.

The annual beer festivities came to town again Saturday as part of a five-city tour that for the first time included Europe. The sunny one-day gathering at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds, with bands, acrobats and attendees in all manner of costume, was expected to draw in excess of 6,000 people, the biggest crowd ever.

“This is our hometown,” crowed Ron Lindenbusch, a longtime Lagunitas manager whose business card proclaims him the company’s “beer weasel.”

Lindenbusch expressed delight that Petaluma’s beer circus has grown by word of mouth for a decade. “More and more people want to come every year,” he said.

As he spoke, he heard the approach of the booming, accented rhythms of the TrashKan Marchink Band, a San Francisco group that combines clowns, trash cans and various musical instruments. The band and related costumed flag team members made their way from one open-walled circus tent to the environs of another over a football field away.

The first beer circus began about ?10 years ago at the Lagunitas brewery on North McDowell Boulevard. In time the event outgrew that space and moved across town to the fairgrounds.

Last year, Lagunitas canceled the circus, which had been planned for late October, in the aftermath of the North Bay wildfires.

Over the years the number of circus venues has multiplied, starting with a 2014 production in Chicago, the site of Lagunitas’ second brewery.

This year the beer circus tour opened Aug. 11 in Chicago and was followed by visits to London and Seattle. Still to come in late October is Los Angeles, where Lagunitas plans to open a third production facility in nearby Azusa.

“It’s about the experience and bringing the party to them,” said Chantal Meton, the company’s director of event marketing.

Tickets were $40 each, with proceeds benefiting the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma. To enter, visitors had to show proof of being at least age 21. Each guest received a complimentary 19.2-ounce can of Lagunitas’ Sumpin’ Easy.

Along with the two circus tents, the event featured a large concert pavilion and a string of booths with the offerings of about 16 local breweries and cideries.

Popular costumes among attendees ranged from clowns to steam punk, with a mixture of Roman, Asian and superhero/villain variations thrown in.

Guests were encouraged to “let your freak flag fly,” said Katie Brown, head of brand communications. She noted the event’s theme: “See things you can’t un-see.”

Ryan Sheehan of Petaluma, attired in a purple and green jester’s outfit, said he had been to the beer circus twice before over the years.

“It’s a fun, exciting event to go to,” said Sheehan. “I like dressing up.”

Over at the beer booths, Joe Paz’s eyes lit up when he saw that Boonville’s Anderson Valley Brewing Co.mpany mpany was pouring its product. Paz was wearing one of the brewery’s ball caps.

After getting a beer, he joined a group of friends, including fellow Santa Rosans Brittany Soto and Adam Wessling, the latter dressed as a rodeo clown.

“It’s Petaluma, so you’ve got to have a little country,” Wessling said of his costume.

Soto said the best part of the circus was the many different people she encountered.

“There’s a lot of characters,” she said.