Prepare to booze up and bust a button at Opelika's second BBQ & Brewfest.
Saturday's fest is organized by Lisa Beck, owner of the Event Center Downtown in historic downtown Opelika, and will feature more than 30 craft beers from around the country.
"A lot of these are beers that people have never even heard of," Beck said. "They're beers that are just coming out on the market for the most part."
The fest begins at 6 p.m. and lasts until midnight, but the beer tasting and barbecue ends at 9 p.m.
Until last year, the Auburn-Opelika area didn't have a brew fest.
"Beers are trendy right now," Beck said. "People are into the high-gravity and craft beers. I thought it was something that people would enjoy."
One of the brewers showcasing its beer is the Birmingham-based Back Forty Beer Company, whose owners are Auburn graduates. Back Forty produces Naked Pig Pale Ale and Truck Stop Honey Brown Ale.
Along with a wide spectrum of select beers, ticket-holders will get to experience an Atlanta-based band, Glow, which has broken attendance records at Marietta Square, Buford and Sandy Springs in Georgia.
"We take songs and we put our spin to it," said Mark Sutherland, manager of Glow. "We bring some modern elements to it, and sometimes we bring in some harmonies and enrich the original tune."
The seven-member band is famous for dimming the house lights and throwing glow-in-the-dark necklaces to the audience. Glow also boasts it can fill any dance floor with a repertoire of more than 150 songs.
"Last year everyone danced like crazy to Glow," Beck said. "This year they're going to hold the stage for four hours."
There's one song Glow is particularly fond of playing.
"'Bohemian Rhapsody' is probably our favorite song," Sutherland said. "We worked on that song for three months. It took us an awful long time to get those harmonies put together."
Opening for Glow is the local band The Good Doctor. The band is known around Auburn for its funk style.
Price's Barbecue House, locally owned and operated by Auburn graduate Jeff Price, will be supplying the pulled pork sandwiches for the fest.
"It's the care that goes into it," Price said. "Someone is always there when we slow cook it over the pit, and it's the same old pit that we started on."
Last year's brewfest was Event Center Downtown's largest public event with more than 450 attendees.
"We had people ranging in age from 21-85," Beck said. "We had elderly people here sampling beer. We had middle-aged people and the college crowd. It was a really nice mix of people."
Beck said she's expecting attendance to be approximately 600 people this year.
"Last year we allowed children to come, but since we're expecting larger crowds this year, we're only letting in 21 and over," Beck said.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the Event Center Downtown at 614 N. Railroad Ave. in Opelika any time before the fest, as well as at the door the night of the event.
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