Another beer festival is on tap for the region.
The inaugural Towamencin Township Wine and Beer Festival at Mainland Grille and Golf Course has been given the go-ahead unanimously by supervisors Wednesday.
The event will take place June 8 from Noon to 5 p.m. at the grille and golf course at 2550 Rittenhouse Road. It is sponsored by the township Recreation and Special Events Advisory Committee and Mainland Grille & Golf Course.
“We thought a beer and wine festival would be favorable in our township,” said township Special Events Coordinator Cortney Morengo. “We looked at the demographics of our residents and we don’t provide events that are specifically targeted to adults only.”
Logistics and planning are being finalized, but, at present, tickets are proposed to cost $34.95 for general admission, and $49.95 for VIP. Mainland Grille has tentatively reserved 300 general admission tickets and 75 VIP tickets. The restaurant would also provide food as part of the ticket.
“We looked at our fundraising needs, and the Turkey Trot is our biggest fundraiser,” Morengo said. “We’ve had good participation over the past couple of years, and we would like to have another event that would serve as a fundraiser itself.”
The concept was presented by the committee to the Board of Supervisors in April 2018, to help pay for numerous events for the year, such as the Summer Concerts in the Park.
“We looked at this event as a way to attract sponsorships,” Morengo said, “and a way to attract new volunteers, and compete with our local townships. Upper Gwynedd, Lansdale, and Skippack – we have all similar events.”
Towamencin Township, Morengo said, would be responsible for items like tent rental ($700), Eventbrite fees ($1,054.81), decor ($400), wristbands, advertising, paper tickets and shuttle transport ($700), according to a spreadsheet presented at the meeting.
“Logistically, for Towamencin Township, we would be working as the event company. Mainland will do the heavy lifting part of it,” Morengo said.
Mainland Grille would be responsible for staffing, Eventbrite ticket sales, snacks and music. It would be about $350 for beer per vendor.
“At the end, we would split all proceeds 50/50,” Morengo said.
Potential beer vendors include, to list a few, Blueprint Brewery, Round Guys Brewery, Imprint Brewery, Free Will Brewery, Weyerbacher, Stickman Brews and Yards Brewery. Morengo hopes to attract other vendors that participate in Lansdale Beer Fest.
Potential wine vendors include Boardroom Spirits, Stone & Key Cellars, Manatawny Still Works, Hidden Creek Vineyard and Winery, Red Shale Ridge Vineyards and Naylor Wine Cellars, to name a few.
The event, Morengo said, would be included in the township’s Platinum and Gold sponsorships for the year. The township offers tiered community partnerships with businesses where they give a donation in exchange for advertisements and promotions at community events.
“We currently do have some sponsorships that would come in, but we are still seeking sponsors. We thought this was a good way to get some sponsors,” she said.
Mainland Grille held its own beer festival last year, which attracted 125 people. Rob Iannaccone, corporate executive chef for Mainland Grille, said Mainland Grille handled all logistics in-house, such as securing vendors and establishing relationships with independent breweries, which opened channels to contact more vendors and get more on board for the June 8 event.
“(We) want to make the event special and make sure we have a huge variety of beer and wine vendors,” he said.
Iannaccone said the restaurant would pay a fee to buy the beer to be handed out and hopes it can negotiate favorable pricing for the beer.
“Hopefully, as the festival grows, it would be more that the breweries would want to come to us and want to participate,” he said. “That is part of the cost of putting on the event – purchasing actual kegs to get the breweries to come out.”
Iannaccone hoped local breweries would donate some beer or wine or at least provide a significant discount.
Morengo said the Special Events Committee is very excited for the event and the infrastructure is in place to support it.
“There was already an event from last year, so we know what works and what doesn’t work, and we will work off their blueprint,” she said. “This is a softball for our events committee, seeing that not a ton of logistics are involved and that a lot of things are vetted by Mainland Grille.”
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