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23rd Annual Kona Brewers Festival 2018
March 10, 2018 @ 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
The Kona Brewers Festival
March 10, 2018
3:00PM-7:00 PM
Tickets on sale December 16, 2017, 11AM (HST)
Online Only at http://www.konabrewersfestival.com
NEW: Upgraded Connoisseurs Event Tickets
Our great Festival moves into 2018 as a million-dollar plus fundraiser for local organizations serving the environment, education, culture and youth over its’ twenty-two-year history. Festival goers remember the feel – good beer, great food, trash fashion, and fun in the sun, but coming together to celebrate craft beer is just the beginning. The Springtime event is a tremendous collaboration of more than 500 people from various groups and businesses and remains focused on community and natural resources. After testing a shorter two session format for the past two years, the Kona Brewers Festival will join all ticket holders together into one extended session on March 10, 2018. New this year will be an upgraded ticket that allows access to Honu’s Tap Room and Lounge for a special connoisseurs area with additional tastes and activities.
The day kicks off with the Run for Hops, a fun, family-friendly 5k run/walk and 10k run that helps support the Kona Brewers Festival beneficiary organizations and the PATH Bike Safety Education Program for Hawaii Island. In a spirit of Pualu (working together), 36 chefs and 36 brewers showcase their tastes on the beautiful luau grounds of the Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel.
Tickets:
General Admission, 3:00pm to 7:00pm, $85 to support island beneficiary organizations focused on environment, education, culture and youth and include.
Admission to the four-hour festival
Commemorative glass mug
Ten brew tasting coupons
Unlimited sampling of gourmet cuisine
An afternoon of entertainment
The legendary Trash Fashion show
Some of Hawaii’s best musical groups
A limited number of Honu’s Taproom and Lounge Connoisseurs Tickets are available at a cost of $185 to support island beneficiary organizations. These upgraded tickets include all General Admission amenities plus admission to the festival and Honu’s Taproom & Lounge for a five-hour festival. Honu tickets offer special beer and food pairings, entertainment, air conditioned seating, educational talks by local brewers, and access to move between the Lounge and general areas make this ticket the best for connoisseurs and extreme beer lovers, while further supporting the fundraising efforts of the festival. The Lounge is open from 2:00pm-4:30pm.
The festival is made possible by more than 15 non-profits who donate their volunteers to staff the event. In turn, festival proceeds provide a financial gift to fund local work year-round. “All the Beneficiaries volunteer in some way to make the Kona Brewers Festival a success.” Said Kate Jacobson, Executive Director of the Kona Brewers Festival, “These non-profit organizations do critical work to make our Island and the world a better place. We really want our island community to get to know that work through this festival. The beneficiary section of our website as well as our downloadable mobile app help connect the issues and causes to the party.”
In addition to funding some of the best island programs, this special event on the shores of Kamakahonu Bay diverts 90% of festival waste from landfills, much of it becoming soil for Hawaii Island school gardens. The Kona Brewers Festival proudly accepted the 2017 Hawaii Green Business Award, and to offset the carbon impact of flying to Honolulu to accept the award, Rolinia trees were given to Beneficiary organizations to plant throughout the island.
After 22 years operating under the auspices of the Oregon based, Bill Healy Foundation, the Kona Brewers Festival is proud to announce the launch of their very own Ke Kai Ala Foundation, a locally based foundation created to advance the values of the Kona Brewers Festival.
Ke Kai Ala and Kona Brewers Festival values include:
Community collaboration – cultivating aloha among diverse groups through celebration that benefits nonprofits
Sustainable Legacy – perpetuating a model of interconnectedness between humans, culture and environment
Responsible Guidance – acting with integrity and generosity for future generations
Ke Kai Ala represents the path to the sea, and our responsibility as island residents to the aina and all things connected.
Location:
Courtyard King Kamehmeha's Kona Beach Hotel in Kailua Kona Village
Dates:
Ticket Sales: December 16, 2017 at 11am (HST)
Online Only, http://www.konabrewersfestival.com
General Admission Ticket Holders: March 10, 2018 3:00pm-7:00pm
Honu’s Tap Room & Lounge Ticket Holders: March 10, 2018 2:00pm-4:30pm
Run for the Hops 5K / 10K – Saturday, March 10
The day of beer tasting takes off with a running start at the “Run for the Hops” 5K / 10K run/ walk. Presented by Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawaii (PATH), the run begins and ends at BMW of Hawaii. Entry fee is $30 and includes a commemorative T-shirt, refreshments, award ceremony and beer tasting following the race. Registration is open at http://www.KonaBrewersFestival.com.
Homebrew Competition – Saturday, March 10
The Kona Brewers Festival Homebrew Competition is a local competition sanctioned by the American Homebrewers Association, recognizing the most outstanding beer, mead and cider produced by amateur brewers. Judges come from all over the United States to evaluate entries for 28 different styles. The Best of Show Winner for beer will have the name of their brew engraved on a plaque mounted to the Kona Barrel trophy at Kona Brewing Company’s Pub in Kailua-Kona. Ribbons with Medallions are awarded in 28 categories. Entries must be registered by the cutoff date at http://www.KonaBrewersFestival.com.