Even though the weather was frigid (when we attended as it was 34°), and it even snowed for the first time at Winterfest, some 1400 people braved the weather to participate. The newly initiated Tipsy Tagalongs podcast was honored to be a part of the event and assist in promoting it.
Kennett Winterfest is part of the tri-fest experiences sponsored by Kennett Collaborative. As do the other two KC sponsored “fests” (Kennett Summerfest and the original Kennett Brewfest), Kennett Winterfest offers the opportunity of a beer/wine/cider/etc. tasting experience like no other!
We counted over 75 vendors total, so if you’re a beer drinker, there’s something for you. If you’re not a beer drinker, but you’re cider drinker or the designated driver, don’t fret there’s something for you too!
There are two different types of tickets available. General Admission and Definitely Connoisseur (DefConn). With a limited number of tickets, anyone wanting to attend needs to buy their ticket as early as possible as they often sell out prior to the event. A loose schedule and a site map is provided. The map definitely helps you find your way around.
DefConn (Definitely Connoisseur) Admission
There is something about being treated like royalty that’s enjoyable, and the DefConn experience gives you some serious royal treatment.
DefConn attendees get to start their experience at 11:15am. Their $100 attendance fee includes both the early admission and general admission festivities. There are a number of percs you get, including your own special glass.
As stated earlier, in the winter, it can be cold. The Winterfest has DefConn covered, literally! The DefConn experience is inside a large heated tent with plenty of room.
So what’s inside the tent besides the heaters? Everyone gets a specially catered meal (this year it was Natalie’s Fine Foods from Kennett Square) and beer, of course.
But not just any beer. The featured beer is the winner of the best beer contest from the previous season’s Kennett Brewfest, and only them. This year, Wilmington Brew Works was the winner. They provided 8 different brews for the DefConn attendees.
After being well fed and having some great beer to drink, DefConn folks join the General Admission for the full experience.
General Admission
This stage is a lot of fun. General admission starts at 12:30pm and costs $60. Admission includes a small plastic mug and access to most of the areas best craft brewers. You can often even meet the owners themselves! This year’s mug was sponsored by Two Stones Pub, a locally owned small chain.
There are a lot of breweries represented, and we mean a LOT. (did we say a lot?)
But there are also other vendors. There’s food to purchase and eat, sauces, clothing (regular and Winterfest merch) and even Anderson Windows© joined the fray this year.
They even have live music! This year’s music was brought to you by Dylan Zangwell. If that name doesn’t ring a bell now, it will soon. Dylan is part of the current season’s American Idol contest!
The Beer
From Pilsner to IPA to Stouts, along with a huge variety of flavors, some with citrous, others with coffee influence. There’s pretty much everything under the sun.
There were 54 listed beer crafters, and there was even the Band of Media Brewers (BOMB) which is a beer club who were giving away samples of their homebrews that incidentally were phenomenal.
Depending on the timing, it’s not unusual to see a line in front of some of the breweries. Don’t fret though, as the lines move quickly. To make things go faster, some people hit up the breweries without lines and come back to the others when their lines wind down a bit.
While 3.5 hours for the tasting seems generous, it’s virtually impossible to taste all the beer that’s available. Don’t worry though, there’s plenty of time to taste more than enough different beer creations and be satisfied.
The Food
With 7 vendors in the food court and some snack vendors throughout the beer vendors, there is no lack of food variety available. Southbound BBQ Co. (all things BBQ), Taste of Puebla (Tacos, Burritos, etc.), Mezzaluna Wood Fired Pizza (pizza), Natalie’s Fine Foods (as a food truck), Madi’s On A Roll (egg rolls), Delaware Oyster Company aka George and Sons Seafood Market (raw shucked oysters, shrimp, lobster roll and Red Fin Soup) and Dia Doce (cupcakes, animal crackers, etc.).
They even had Reuben Egg Rolls, like who does that? All we know is that there was a steady line at that location. And the freshly shucked oysters were sold out once again.
All in all, some really great food!!
If you’re starting to regret that you didn’t attend the Winterfest and would still like to taste the foods that were offered, click on the links above to find out how you can get some of their great creations.
Who is Kennett Collaborative?
“Funding the fun in Kennett” – we got the opportunity to speak one on one with Kennett Collaborative Executive Director Daniel Embree.
He told us how Kennett Collaborative is a non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to provide events, support parades, and otherwise entertain the people who live in the Borough of Kennett Square as well as the surrounding area. The tri-fest events help pay for a lot of the fun things they provide.
Hence, Gary came up with the new slogan “Kennett Collaborative is essentially funding the fun in Kennett”!
Details
The Winterfest was covered by both Journey Moore Often as a Tipsy Tagalongs event. You can check out other Tipsy Tagalong events on our Tipsy Tagalongs podcast page.
Even though they shut the road off in front of the event, there’s plenty of parking within a short walking distance. And while you may have to walk across a road, the police direct the crossing by slowing down and even stopping cars as needed for your safety.
Finally, we noticed that there were a lot of people who either walked or had a designated driver. Pretty smart considering the potential for too much alcohol consumption. As always, have fun, but drink responsibly, it’s the only way to drink.