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The Lehigh Valley Hops Fest, put on by the Celtic Cultural Alliance, is coming back to Bethlehem on Saturday, June 13th from 12pm to 4pm. Last year’s event was hugely popular and sold out, bringing brewers from all over the Lehigh Valley and beyond to pour their brews on the Celtic Fest field in Downtown Bethlehem. VIP tickets, which includes an hour early admission, lunch, a souvenir tasting glass, and special VIP-only beers, are $65 and General Admission tickets, which includes unlimited tastings from 1pm to 4pm, are $40. Designated Driver tickets, which include soda, water, and snacks are $10. Tickets for the event can be purchased here and sales run until June 11th.
2 comments
I sure hope they have more bathrooms this year. The line to use a port-a-potty, coped bathroom was over 30 minutes long last year, which was outrageous, especially considering the price of the event. Seriously, the line went from one end of the event to the other to get a bathroom. You had to cut through the bathroom line to move from one tent to the other. During the second half of this event, it got pretty ugly.
I also was disappointed that there was absolutely no seating and a very crowded atmosphere last year. It was very cramped. It was simply that not enough space was allocated for the people attending.
In general, I thought the event last year was very well attended by breweries local and distant, but the atmosphere of the ‘Fest was atrocious. They have some serious improvements to make on this event for it to be a premier event.
My letter and phone call to the Celtic Alliance went totally unanswered last year. That was disappointing. I am not usually a cry baby, but this event was expensive and would have been great if the details had been handled correctly. I really love beer, but I am the mother of two kids…and not to put too fine a point on the matter, but bathroom access is essential to having a good time when consuming large quantities of beer. Seating is not essential, but that would have been nice.
I hope to see a response on your (wonderful) blog from one of their representatives, since I know they read this blog. They did not respond to my scathing review last year, though, and their silence on the issues I’ve raised is very telling. I hope all attendees have fun! It’s a great selection of breweries!! I guess I’d recommend that you wear your depends and comfy shoes. I’m gonna skip it and host my own tasting in the backyards here at home.
I’d have to agree with your assessment…I had actually completely forgotten about last year’s bathroom woes. The line was ridiculous and indeed you had to squeeze between people to go from tent to tent. For my money I’d much rather attend a Brew Works event…they usually include food and the bathroom situation never seems to be a problem, although they can get crowded.