The eighth iteration of Snallygaster returns to Pennsylvania Avenue, NW on Saturday, October 12, 2019, and with it come some big changes. DC Beer chatted with Neighborhood Restaurant Group Beer Director Greg Engert about the festival.
Snallygaster 2019: The buck stops here
Most importantly, Snallybucks are going away, and are being replaced by two ticketing options. The Kraken Pass costs $50 and will get you unlimited pours of beer and wine for four hours, from 2-6pm. The Basilisk Pass costs $100, and comes with an extra two hours of unlimited, beery fun, for a noon entry. Here we’ll add that this event is the largest single fundraiser for Arcadia Food, which creates a more equitable and sustainable local food system in the DC area via produce delivery to under-served communities, sustainable farming practices, veteran training, and a farm to schools program.
Why the change? Engert notes that Snallygaster 2019, like all NRG properties and events, has evolved over time, moving from Yards Park to Pennsylvania Avenue, and continues to add new breweries, food options, bands, and other activities. Following last year’s event, the NRG team looked for ways to improve the festival, and 2018 attendees filled out surveys that indicated a preference to move towards unlimited tastings. At the same time, says Engert, “a lot of the festivals we love and are fortunate enough to get invited to have moved to this model, like Shelton Brothers’ and the FirestoneWalker Invitational.” Bluejacket has poured at these and other festivals with an unlimited tastings model and staff noted the ease of use as opposed to Snallybucks.
In addition, all attendees will get a tasting glass, and with ample rinsing stations, perhaps coming from Liquid Integrity, which will cut down on waste and provide a better vessel for drinking beers from Bissel Brothers (ME), De Garde (OR), and Kane (NJ), among others. That’s right, there will be at least twenty-five new breweries coming to Snallygaster this year, including those mentioned above. What else? More bands, more wine and cider, and more family-friendly activities.
Tickets to Snallygaster 2019 go on sale at 10 am on Friday, June 7th, and stay tuned as DC Beer attempts to power rank this monstrosity, as we’ve done in years past.
