Untappd Beer Festival would have been this weekend in Charlotte, except ... COVID.
Untappd’s second-annual festival at Bank of America Stadium would have been held this Saturday.
For some, it would have been the company’s chance to make good. The inaugural event was likened to the infamous Fyre Festival due to its long lines, weather delays, issues getting beer to tents and shortage of proper tasting glasses.
The Wilmington-based company acknowledged many of these issues and had plans in place to remedy them the second time around, but in light of COVID-19 it has postponed the event until this fall.
Untappd is working with the Carolina Panthers to find a date that will work during the NFL season, which they hope to share by the end of this month.
The company did, however, recently announce a new event: the “first ever multi-state Virtual Beer Festival,” presented in partnership with online beer distributor Half Time.
Tickets are on sale now.
Party at your pad
Talia Spera, director of festivals and live events for Untappd, feels confident they will be able to bring the party into people’s homes, even if it will be a little different than a traditional fest.
“We really feel like we’re easily going to address some of the issues that happened in the past for live events,” Spera said. “This one we’re even more confident with. At our core we’re a tech company, and so we’re very used to doing online events and working with an online community.”
Untappd has already had a bit of what Spera calls a “testing phase” leading up to this event. Since launching its Untappd TV platform about a month ago, 100,000 viewers and more than 1,000 subscribers have participated in the 10 online events the company has hosted (which include Virtual Happy Hours and Sessionable Saturdays).
Untappd will offer two packages for its new virtual festival.
The Drinking Socially package ($89.99) will be distributed across 29 states, but the Carolinas are, unfortunately, not on the list. Spera noted that dealing with each state’s regulations on shipping alcohol was a challenge, and they really wanted this event to have as national a scope as possible.
That leaves locals with just the Stay At Home Stream option ($15.00), which includes access to two virtual panels but requires you to bring your own beer. Here are the panel details:
Session 1: Saturday, June 13, 3 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Features hoppier beers
Panelists:
Terrance Romero, Mikkeller Brewing
Matt Cohen, Fiddlehead Brewing Company
Joe Turco, Sloop Brewing Company
Mike Fava, Oxbow Brewing Company
Dan Bronson, SingleCut Beersmiths
Session 2: Sunday, June 14, 4 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Features bolder beers
Panelists:
Paul Pignataro, Decadent Ales
Zach Caron, Allagash Brewing Company
Jeff O’Neil, Industrial Arts Brewing Company
Eric Hild, Toppling Goliath Brewing Company
TBD, Finback Brewery
Portions of the proceeds from both packages will benefit Restaurant Strong Fund, a nonprofit formed by Samuel Adams and the Greg Hill Foundation to support service industry workers affected by COVID-19 closures.
“The main reason we’re doing this is that it’s all fun, but a lot of this is to raise funds for Restaurant Strong Fund, who does have a chapter in North Carolina,” Spera said. “The big piece is that those funds will go to those impacted by those breweries that we work with every day in North Carolina and all over the world.”
