The Taranaki Beer Festival is being held at TSB Stadium on July 1 and 2. Photo / Supplied
The Taranaki Beer Festival is being held at TSB Stadium on July 1 and 2. Photo / Supplied
Throwing around a long-held idea over a beer with mates has rapidly turned to fruition for one craft beer fan.
New Plymouth man Brett Cursons says he'd given thought to organising a beer festival in the town for the past couple of years, but as of a year ago he was yet to do anything about it.
"It was something that I've been thinking about doing for the last couple of years, after spending quite a bit of time at other beer festivals, I was like 'Taranaki needs one'.
"I'd been umming and ahing as to whether it would be worth it and then having a decent yarn with a few people over a few beers, you know if we did this would they come and everyone was just stupidly kind of excited about it."
Then he was off to Beervana to not only try some beers but sound out a few breweries about whether they'd make the trek.
"I asked some breweries down at Beervana [last year], if I did it would they come and literally everyone was just, you know, yep, Taranaki, it's a drawcard in itself. It grew from there.
"It was an overwhelming response."
After a chat with his boss, Kymon Hill from KDJ Catering, Cursons set about launching Taranaki Beer Festival was born.
Initially set for April but delayed due to Covid, it's now set to run over two days, Friday, July 1 and Saturday, July 2, and it won't feature just breweries - 35 of them - but ciders and seltzers from some of the country's best brewers.
"Talking to local breweries, everyone was keen so we just grew it.
"We were initially going to do 20 in one day, then it was 35 in two days, so it just came together.
"Getting the likes of Liquorland on board, we didn't have to sell anything too hard, which I guess made us realise we were doing something worthwhile if they were keen to get involved quite easily."
As well as refreshments, there'll be a well known local band playing, while five local vendors would be serving food outside, including meats, burgers and kebabs.
He's hoping for a big response from locals who, despite getting to experience Synthony, would be enjoying their first big non-concert event since last year or longer.
The team from Bootleg Brewing, along with Brewaucracy and Good George, will be at the Taranaki Beer Festival on July 1 and 2. Photo / Supplied
"We're pretty happy, it's kind of all coming together ... I just want it to happen now."
He's also hoping it would benefit breweries that are new to the region.
"We wanted to make it so that they would get something out of it. It costs them a lot to go to festivals and a lot of them don't have a big footprint here ... so for them, it's a marketing exercise and with Covid too a lot of these breweries have been absolutely hammered with having to close for so long."
Breweries from around the country, including three from the Waikato - Bootleg Brewing, Good George and Brewaucracy - would be heading down for the festivities.
Jaden Hatwell of Bootleg Brewing in Matangi said they were excited to get down there, while Greig McGill of Hamilton's Brewaucracy was also looking forward to it.
"It's a beautiful part of the country, and has quite the beer pedigree, having birthed one of the originals in Mike's, the stellar Liberty Brewing, and most recently, New Zealand's champion micro brewery, Three Sisters," McGill said.
"It's pretty cool that now it also has what is looking to be a pretty impressive beer festival to go with that history."
While he and wife Alexandra had managed to sneak to Beervana last year, they were yet to exhibit at any beer festivals since the first Covid-19 lockdown.
"It's certainly been interesting times for both us as a brewery and the industry as a whole. We've found the taproom has kept on ticking, with our new bar manager Yvonne Connell, who has really cranked things up a notch and helped to keep people coming in during scary times."
McGill said he'd been focused on "just making beer and running the business", but he'd noticed there'd been a lot of belt-tightening in the industry.
"I'm surprised that there have been so few business casualties, so that's a pretty great thing.
"I think everyone is largely trying to stay positive though, and the Taranaki Beer Festival is a great way to get that positivity out to all the beer lovers out there."
