OK this was their 3rd year for the All for Profit Fest and still oversold and still poorly planned. They had roughly 3,500 people. Ran out of beer early for the 3rd year in a row, even with 10 additional breweries from last year and again lacking sufficient Porta Potties which led to 30+ minute wait. Do they really need a VIP session or just have a 3.5 - 4 hour session? It would be nice if Every Attendee received a $ 10 Food Voucher with the cost of their ticket. Your Feedback on this event is Appreciated.
This was my first time attending the Lancaster Beer Fest so I cannot compare it to previous years. I thought the VIP session was great as far as getting beer goes, I was at most third in line during that hour. The food for the VIP admission on the other hand was eh, especially the wraps. The only thing I missed out on that I wanted to try was the cider aged in barrels by Blue Water, however they brought eight different beers to try so that made up for it. Granted since I started drinking just after 3:00pm I did not feel the need to drink much during the last hour. My biggest complaint would be that one of the local breweries did not show up so someone from a nearby restaurant was pouring their beer. Seriously how does someone with a Taproom three blocks away not have someone there?! As far as the porta potties, the ones behind The Traveler and Sam Addams went fairly quickly. The other side of the street looked like a longer wait. It was also the cheapest fest I've been to in a while, so I did not have high expectations. Even my girlfriend said she would go back, she refuses to go back to the State College Brew Expo.
I've been to several hundred over the past 20 years and this one just irks me on how it is put on. If you did not get a chance for Lititz which is an excellent event that is NOT oversoild, but sold out with 54 brewwereis this year, then please try it next year. They needed about 20 more Porta Potties and the whole For Profit is another item that makes this event too self serving in my opinion. Cheap yes for $ 40 is was cheap but they need to Feed people and eat some of their tens of thosusands of profit. VIP was $ 60 I think, even if it was $ 50 a true rip off and yes the food is always Blah at the VIP and non-descript.
It was my first time attending and I thought it was great. Just a regular ticket holder, not VIP. We were a little disappointed that some brewers sold out, but we found others with beer right up to the last minute. Honestly my biggest disappointment was Troegs only having Dreamweaver on tap.
I've attended all 3 years and thought this year was the best yet -- they are definitely improving with each beerfest For example, the first year it took a long time to get in because they only had one entrance line. Now they have 2 entrances with multiple lines at each. I disagree with the porta-potty comment above, about there not being enough. There were literally dozens of porta-potties, people just get lazy while they're in line and don't pay attention; they don't look for the open stalls. I never had to wait when I had to go to the bathroom. I also don't think it's the beerfest's fault if some vendors ran out of beer (I only ran into a handful that did, and it was during the last 30 minutes). They know the duration and crowd size ahead of time. Re: the commenter who mentioned Taproom didn't even have anyone there... I didn't visit their booth because I go to Taproom all the time already, so I didn't even realize they goofed. That's pretty sad. I enjoyed both bands this year. I like how you can take a break by going up on the balcony at Binn's Park and look out over the crowd. I also think the variety of brewers was excellent. My only wish is for more shade, but I guess that's a pipe dream
Well we can agree to disagree and when I think about the Net profit of at least $ 125,000 for the event I hope the Organizers gave the Shrieber Foundation at least $ 30,000 Shade is a pipe dream unless it rains. I only saw people in line for the Porta Potties so long as you say they weren't paying attention and/or far too gone at that point. Yes the 1st year was horrendous with 1 entrance point and they learned that lesson quickly and not enough beer. I stll think they should get rid of the VIP or if they have it give them REAL Food and every attendee receive a $ 10 voucher for Food!!
