Springfield Arts Council kicks off summer festival with beer bash

Admission-free event June 25 at Mother Stewart’s.

The Springfield Arts Council (SAC) is toasting the July return of the Summer Arts Festival after two years, and the public is invited to raise a glass in celebration.

Brewery Bash will offer an evening of food, drinks, live music and a sense of being together again in anticipation of the festival at 6 p.m. Friday, June 25, at Mother Stewart’s Brewing Co., 102 W. Columbia St.

Admission is free. Five different tasting stations with Mother Stewart’s beers with food pairings from Parkhurst Catering will be available for $5 each, or a premium package that includes all five stations and a souvenir pint glass for $20. Proceeds benefit the SAC.

With the Summer Arts Festival debuting a little later this year – Thursday, July 1 – this kickoff has brought an even bigger sense of the community coming back together after a year of lockdowns, cancelations and being apart, said Tim Rowe, SAC executive director.

“Brewery Bash is our annual pre-festival formal announcement the Friday before the festival opens,” he said. “We have such a great partnership with the brewery that it was the place for us to celebrate. We recognize the festival is obviously a community event and what better place to be than a community gathering place like Mother’s, and being an admission-free festival, also having this event free.”

A familiar local performer will set the mood. Patrick Dawson is an acoustic musician who audiences may have seen in a variety of area venues, including the festival’s preshow Live on the Terrace concerts, the Springfield Farmers Market and the annual Springfield Rotary Gourmet Food Truck Competition.

Brewery Bash will also have a 50/50 raffle, information about the festival and SAC staff on hand to answer questions.

“We hope people will be with us to steer the Arts Festival back to basics,” Rowe said.

The 55th annual Summer Arts Festival will run four weeks, July 1 to July 24, at the Veterans Park Amphitheatre. There will also be a few special preshow attractions, including a beer and wine tasting.

For more information on Brewery Bash or the festival, visit the SAC’s website or Facebook page.

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