A popular fall festival showcasing dozens of craft breweries will move this year from Westwood Plateau to the casino.
Saturday, the Coquitlam Craft Beer Festival will have two events in the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver theatre: a matinee (noon to 3 p.m.) and an evening (7 to 10 p.m.) production.
Organizer John Gerum of West Coast Experiences said his group wanted a bigger venue for its fall event to support more vendors and give guests more room to mingle; the spring edition will stay at Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club.
And, as in previous years, the organization will continue to support Team Taylor and its Ride to Conquer Cancer fundraising efforts that collect cash for the BC Cancer Foundation.
Besides the 50-plus craft breweries on site, there will also be two new features to the fall gathering that’s sponsored in part by The Tri-City News: the introduction of four distilleries (Wreck Beach Spirits, Queensborough, Good Times Drinks and Georgian Bay Spirits) and three cider houses (BC Tree Fruits Cider, Sea Cider Farm and Summerland Cider) plus six international food pairing stations.
Gerum said his team will gauge response from the crowd to see if it should also stage a new craft distilleries festival in the Tri-Cities.
Besides the biannual Coquitlam Craft Beer fests, West Coast Experiences also hosts two wine tastings: BC Uncorked, now held at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster in the spring; and the Tri-City International Wine and Festival, which will remain in Coquitlam; it’s set for Oct. 19, also at the Hard Rock Casino Vancouver.
Visit coquitlambeerfestival.com for tickets.
