Lots of fun, thumbs up to the Chemainus Business Improvement Association organizers.
That was the consensus from those attending the Cowichan Craft Beer & Food Festival in Chemainus Saturday.
It truly was an awesome day for Chemainus. It was badly needed for people to get out among other members of the community, many from out-of-town and for participating craft brewers and food businesses to promote themselves.
“Huge thanks Chemainus BIA,” noted Cindy Simpson. “The town was buzzing! Let’s have more festivals like this one. It brings us all closer together.”
Comments on social media indicated people enjoyed the day. The remarkable thing is how quickly the time passed. Those with VIP tickets had five hours and others four hours and, before you knew it, the clock was ticking down to the end.
The Larry Irving Field at the Chemainus Ball Park certainly was the ideal site for the event as well. Lots of room to accommodate that many people.
Chemainus business person Nuria Sanchez was impressed with how the crowd handled itself. “Thank you to everyone who showed up and the respect you showed to organizers, volunteers and the field,” she indicated. “Very little garbage needed to be picked up off the field. Saw many happy faces as they were leaving.”
The lineups did get long at some of the vendors during the peak time, but no one seemed to mind. It was all part of the experience of chatting to others, people watching and enjoying the selection of craft beer and food.
The festival really helped put the businesses on the map. A small place like Soul’s Toast in Chemainus received incredible exposure from being there and those working its booth, like the others, did their best to accommodate everyone.
Food was delayed when the power of the generator caused Soul’s machines to stop working, but customers waited without complaints. Maybe we can bottle some of these feelings of patience and put them into practice every day when circumstances beyond control arise for businesses.
On top of everything else, the weather was ideal – not too hot, but mostly sunny with clouds – so that just added into the mix nicely.
As so many have already said, ‘can’t wait till next year.’
