Stamford's annual 'Brews on Bedford' beer festival canceled
Ticket holders received an email saying it was being canceled "due to unforeseen circumstances," and that everyone was getting a refund
The eighth annual "Brews on Bedford" beer festival that was scheduled for Saturday in Stamford's Latham Park has been canceled with less than a week's notice.
The event was advertised as including over 20 local breweries, along with food trucks, craft vendors, lawn games and music. Stamford Downtown, which puts on the event, says it usually draws between 750 and 850 people a year.
"Brews on Bedford is one of our iconic events," said Michael Moore, the president of Stamford Downtown. "It's a great way to get folks, our growing residential population to come out and enjoy Latham Park here, but also to sample Bedford Street."
But on the Tuesday morning before this year's event, ticket holders received an email saying it was being canceled "due to unforeseen circumstances" and that everyone was getting a refund.
Moore says the issue was that ticket sales were not as high as they needed to be.
"We didn't see the trend going in the direction that we wanted to, and so we had to make a decision early in the week just to let our vendors know and for logistics purposes," he explained.
People who had already purchased tickets were quick to flood social media with their frustration and disappointment.
"I was sad to hear about the event," said P.J. Kennedy, a Stamford resident who was planning to attend. "There's a lot of great breweries in the area, so always a great event to highlight those local breweries."
Among those scheduled to attend was Greenwich Brewing. Owner Randy Kemka tells News 12 that events like local beer festivals are a unique opportunity for his company to get its name out there.
"This is crucial, for businesses like ours, because it gives us an opportunity to have people try our product in masses," Kemka said.
Stamford residents who spoke with News 12 were split over the reason for the lower ticket sales.
Some said they had no idea it was even happening and would have been interested if they knew. Others said they had been before, but that at $40 in advance or $50 day of, it was not worth it.
"If it was probably $20, $25, you know I'd love to support downtown Stamford and do something. But once we start getting up to $50, then you're paying more on top of that once you're inside, it turns us off from there," said Michael Stern, who lives nearby.
Stamford Downtown says it will look into the price, the advertising and the date - noting that in the past, Brews on Bedford has been held earlier in the year.
"We're going to go back, and we're going to reevaluate what happened here, and I'm confident we're going to come back. We're confident this is just an anomaly," Moore said.
