Crowds gather at River View Park for good beverages, delicious food, fun and game, and entertainment
After taking on a science fiction air last year, with the event being on “May the 4th,” this year’s Buellton Brew Fest, the 12th annual food, drink, and fun event at River View Park took on more of a “down-home” feel.
“Bust out those cowboys hats and boots,” organizers proclaimed in the lead-up to the May 3 event, and many in the crowd followed suit with western wear evident throughout the park. Along with that, the Burbank-based band Country Nation belted out several honky-tonk hits from the main stage, and behind the audience could be found a mechanical bull, where Brew Fest attendees could test their ability to last 8 seconds on the contraption.
Entertainment on the stage also included Santa Barbara-based musician Will Breman and Santa Ynez Valley local DJ Peete.
The “country” atmosphere of the event was proving to be a success, according to Buellton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kathy Vreeland.
“We’re getting a good turnout; it looks like we’ve got about 1,500 people here,” she said while enjoying the Country Nation concert. “We brought in some new things this year, like the mechanical bull, and more things for photo ops. Also, while we have a lot of breweries here, we also have some vendors offering non-alcoholic drinks for those who want that.”
While the event would fall under a different theme (like last year’s “Star Wars” vibe), Vreeland speculated the country theme might not be going away.
“We had some fun with the ‘Star Wars Day’ thing last year, with the event being on May 4, people really seem to be enjoying this,” she said. “We might decide to stick with this and keep it to a country theme for the next few years.”
Of course, the main attraction of the Brew Fest is the number of breweries and beverage-makers setting up shop for the public. More than 50 breweries were in the lineup for this year’s event offering up their libations.
Local standouts like Firestone Walker and Figueroa Mountain were on the grounds, along with many others from the Santa Ynez Valley. One notable business there was Solvang Brewing Company, along with it offshoot brand Sunny Fields Cider, which was serving its drinks along with some great news.
The SBC’s location on Mission Drive in Solvang has been closed since Jan. 20, when a fire gutted the kitchen and did a little damage to the smoke area. However, SBC Brewer Josh Sabin, who was manning the booth, said the location will be opening back up on May 15.
“It’ll be great to be back,” Sabin said.
Also at the Brew Fest was a booth for The Sports Bar at Chumash, an establishment at the top floor of the Chumash Casino, serving up its exclusive Valley Fog brew.
“We just opened last year, and we’re getting the word out about the bar,” said Assistant Manager Heather Gill. “We have a big screen TV and then a bunch of them along the walls, where you can watch a lot of games at once. We also have five small kitchens around so you can pick from five different kinds of food.”
There were more things folks could do aside from imbibing — in addition to the mechanical bull, games of cornhole and giant beer pong (substituting plastic trash barrels for red Solo cups) could be played, along with a rotating camera for anyone that wanted to take a revolving selfie.
Codie Blea and Jacob Powell, of Lompoc, were in a spirited game of giant beer pong (using volleyballs) with their friends Luis Hernandez and Garrett O’Reilly, also from Lompoc. Blea said coming to the Brew Fest is a yearly thing.
“We always enjoy coming over here for this,” he said. “It’s just a chance to get outside and enjoy some refreshment. We always have a great time here.”
Also enjoying the atmosphere in the food-truck area were longtime locals like Ron and Kim Williams, who were with Vickie and Matt Mendenhall, all sporting their best cowboy hats.
“I’m actually working the event, and it’s just good to see people coming to see what Buellton has to offer,” she said.
Across the table from the Williamses and the Mendenhalls were Vanessa Ando, Penny Patel, and Britney Carranza. The three were there to celebrate Ando’s birthday.
“We’re all from Santa Maria, and we thought this was an excellent place to celebrate Vanessa’s birthday,” she said. “Buellton’s always a lot of fun.”
The 2025 Buellton Brew Fest was presented by Rio Vista Chevrolet, with additional sponsors including Chumash Casino Resort, Mechanics Bank, Jim Vreeland Ford, Buellton Chamber of Commerce, Sable Offshore, Farm Supply Company, 805 Selfie Booth, En Fuego Events, GPM Pavement Management, UVA Design Studio, Allan Hancock College, 13 Stars Media, First American Title, and Marborg Industries.
