Summer beer festival coming to Bremerton

Bremerton will become the latest city to host a beer festival, with the Washington Beer Commission deciding on a summer date last week. The event, to take place on Pacific Avenue, is currently scheduled for July 30, but a conflict with Silverdale’s Whaling Days may push the date ahead to July 23, said Carlos Jara, president of the Downtown Bremerton Association and one of the coordinators of the event.

Bremerton will become the latest city to host a beer festival, with the Washington Beer Commission deciding on a summer date last week.

The event, to take place on Pacific Avenue, is currently scheduled for July 30, but a conflict with Silverdale’s Whaling Days may push the date ahead to July 23, said Carlos Jara, president of the Downtown Bremerton Association and one of the coordinators of the event.

The beer festival will host 20 to 25 local microbreweries. Its location on Pacific Avenue will help show off last year’s renovations on the street and provide access to local restaurants.

“What better way to do that than offering beer?” Jara said.

The beer festival’s placement on Whaling Days weekend was unintentional, Jara said, but he doesn’t think one event will detract from the other. While Whaling Days is a three-day all-ages event, the Bremerton beer festival will be one day and is only open to the 21-and-over crowd. However, if beer festival organizers have trouble finding live music and other resources because of Whaling Days, they could reschedule a week earlier.

The Washington Beer Commission hosted five annual events statewide before selecting Bremerton. It hopes to increase its lineup of festivals to 12, Jara said. Bremerton beat out Everett for this year’s new selection.

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