The Atlantic City Convention Center held the Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival, also known as Celebration of the Suds, on April 4-5. More than 100 breweries gathered from all over the country for the two-day sold out event.
Some people attended to see the wonderful live music provided, while others wanted to sample the different types of beers and ciders available. And yet a couple people just wanted to experience something different.
“Not only was the music enjoyable, but also the whole festival was an overall great experience,” Raquel Given said. “With the stage being right in the middle and being surrounded by unlimited beer samples, I couldn’t have asked for a better time.”
I walked from the Trump Plaza where I was staying and as I was walking, I noticed huge groups of people heading toward the Atlantic City Convention Center. Many groups were dressed in themes. Many had the same t-shirts on and others wore costumes. Some of the various costumes included a beer keg, sailor, captain of a ship and German beer girls.
When I walked inside the Convention Center, I noticed something amusing: people had yarn around their necks, and around the yarn, were pretzels. I said to myself, “If I come next year I know what is going around my neck.” It was such a great idea. Why spend four dollars for a hotdog when you can bring pretzels around your neck, which also pairs really well with beer.
I noticed people were gathering around a booth after we handed in our tickets and got our IDs checked. They were handing out little plastic beer mugs that were about four ounces. Since I’ve never been to an event like this, I liked the idea.
Upon walking in, Shock Top was the first beer stand I saw. I love Shock Top Raspberry Wheat Beer so I decided to get that first. Walking around while sipping on that, there was so much to take in. From the familiar brands of beers and ciders to the local, unfamiliar brands, there was so much to try. Some of the familiar brands included Anchor Brewing, Dogfish, Flying Fish, Magic Hat, Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Victory, Woodchuck Ciders, Yards and Yuengling. I sampled all of the new summer flavors some of the companies were releasing. I would have to say that my favorite that I sampled at the event and I even went back for thirds, was Woodchucks Apple Blueberry Cider.
The Saturday afternoon session featured the one band I have been very eager to see. The Dirty Heads closed out the afternoon with their reggae/hip hop vibes. I’ve been listening to them for a while now and it was my chance to finally see them live. They really put on a great show to close out the first Saturday session.
In all, it was a great, fun experience and a chance to get a huge group together to go out and try new brews that you or your friends would not normally try on a night out at the bar. I know I will definitely get a group together to go again next year.
Chelsea Ebling
Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, cme5177@psu.edu