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Celebratin' suds: Elgin Street Beer Fest this weekend!

Elgin Street Craft Beer Festival returns this weekend for fourth year

While the Elgin Street Craft Beer Festival — set for this weekend — is, of course, mostly about trying out new types of suds, organizers have planned something special for music lovers this year.

In previous years, organizers have set up for the Saturday festival just hours before it got underway. Finding that exhausting, they decided to set up on Grey Street, outside of The Townehouse Tavern, a day early this year.

“We thought we've got this big seating area for 1,000 people outside, so we might as well do something with it,” said Paul Loewenberg, manager of the Townehouse, as well as its sister restaurant, The Laughing Buddha.

So on Friday night, local tribute band The Pink Floyd Night performs Pink Floyd's entire production of the 1979 classic “The Wall.” The classic animation will be projected onto a screen against the Sudbury Arena.

Doors to the event open at 6 p.m. Friday night with performances by local bands, with The Wall beginning at 9 p.m.

“They've been doing this Pink Floyd Night for a few years now, and they're really accurate,” Loewenberg said. “They really love the source material, and they really pay a beautiful tribute.”

The main event — the fourth annual Elgin Street Craft Beer Festival — takes place on Grey Street from noon until midnight this Saturday.

This year, about 20 breweries will be bringing their wares to the festival. That's double what the festival offered its first year. Most of them will hand out samples of beers that would not otherwise be available in Sudbury.

People are also welcome to purchase one of the 140 types of beers available at the the Buddha or Townehouse, and move freely between the restaurants and festival site.

There's also plenty of music planned on festival day, including Josh Turnbull, the Bluez Brotherz, and tributes to Nirvana and Led Zepplin.

Loewenberg said the craft beer market has exploded since the festival's inception, speculating it's because start-up costs for small breweries have gone down.

With the emergence of new brewing companies, such as Sudbury's Stack Brewing, which recently celebrated its third anniversary, rules have loosened up to make it easier for small breweries to sell their wares at the LCBO.

There's more than 45 beer festivals in Ontario, although most of those are in Southern Ontario.

“Craft beer is the fastest-growing segment of the adult beverage market,” Loewenberg said. “I think that people have discovered the world of tastes out there.”

At the door, a weekend ticket is $35, and will get you into the Friday night Pink Floyd show as well as the Saturday beer festival. Tickets to the Pink Floyd show only cost $10 in advance or $15 at the door.

Tickets to the Saturday beer festival only are $25. Admission includes a commemorative sample glass and three four-once sample tickets. Samples cost $2 after that.

Visit the event's Facebook page for more information.


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Heidi Ulrichsen

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