Fifty-two breweries and distilleries and a sold-out crowd of more than 2,300 in Buckley Park made San Juan Brewfest a record-breaker in 2015.
The Brewfest, in its 17th year, is United Way of Southwest Colorado’s second largest fundraiser of the year.
“The last two years have been blowouts,” said Tim Walsworth, event organizer and executive director of the Durango Business Improvement District. “It’s fun, it’s for a good cause, there’s beer, music, the whole community comes out to the park on a summer afternoon, and it’s part of my job, because this event makes a good economic impact. What could be better?”
Walsworth estimated at least 800 of the attendees had come from at least an hour’s drive away, although he also met people Saturday from Texas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania.
“It’s becoming a destination event,” he said. “The restaurants in town will be busy (Saturday night), and I bet a lot of the hotels are full.”
It’s becoming a destination event for brewers, as well, with some coming from as far away as Juneau, Alaska – Alaskan Brewing Co. – and Boston (Beer Co.) and numerous points in between, including 13 new breweries and distilleries. All the local breweries were on hand and doing booming business, as well.
While they weren’t selling any product, two marijuana dispensaries were sponsors of the event, handing out coupons and some gift cards, as well as swag such as pens, lighters and coasters.
“They wanted to support United Way,” Walsworth said. “They worked with us to figure out what would be appropriate.”
The Brewfest is one of the hottest tickets in town. VIP tickets, which included a Brewers Reception on Friday night at Carver Brewing Co., and food and early admission the day of the event, sold out two months ago. Only 250 tickets remained to be sold at the gate, and they were gone by 2:15 p.m., United Way Executive Director Lynn Urban said.
Between increasing the number of tickets sold by 300 and expanding onto Main Avenue, as well as increasing ticket prices slightly to $30, Walsworth said the proceeds for United Way from Brewfest will be in the ballpark of $30,000.
“Our United Way is unusual because we hold lots of events,” Urban said. “We raise most of our overhead from events, so when someone decides to give, they know their money will go right to the agencies we support. Only 3.98 percent of donations go to overhead.”
United Way is amid its annual campaign, which has a target of raising about $758,000. About 65 percent of the funding will come from the 200 businesses that support the organization in some way, whether it’s sponsorships or payroll-deduction programs. The money will support 40 agencies in Southwest Colorado, with 27 in La Plata and San Juan counties.
“When we analyze programs in the spring and decide what will receive funding, we’re thinking about doing something different,” Urban said. “We’ll be looking for one big collaborative project to support as well as the different individual agencies’ programs.”
abutler@durangoherald.com
United Way Radiothon
The San Juan Brewfest is United Way of Southwest Colorado’s second largest fundraiser.
On Sept. 11, in partnership with Four Corners Broadcasting, it will hold its largest fundraiser of the year – the 19th annual Radiothon. The event will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with both hourly and day-long items. Log on to www.uwradiothon.org to get a bidder number, then tune into KIQX-FM (101.3), KRSJ-FM (100.5) or KIUP-AM (97.3) to hear what’s on the block. Make a bid at 382-8929.
