Salute! Beer Festival Brought Together Good Beer, Good Food, Good Music, Good Times in Ventura

The first-ever Salute! Festival, celebrating finely crafted beer and food, radiated a wonderful warmth and positive vibe this past Saturday (6/19) at the San Buenaventura State Beach. Compliments to the organizers on a thoughtful, beautiful, and uplifting event. And for putting it on in support of a great cause: feeding those in need throughout Ventura County.

Oh, yes: and for the beer. The event brought together 50 elite invited breweries offering nearly 300 beer selections. We'll highlight some of the breweries, brewers, and brews in the accompanying slideshow (see below). 

As promised, incredible beach views and fabulous music provided a beautiful and inspirational back-drop to a gorgeous day. Performers the VCBE heard included Skyler Stonestreet, Vinyl Candy, and Davy Knowles. Please see a short video clip (below) of Knowles performing during a VIP food-beer pairing session. Other performers included Jade Hendrix, Lee Coulter, and Terra Incognita.

"It has been one of the greatest joys in my life to work alongside Joby, as well as Bonnie Weigel of FOOD Share as partners" said Christine Hansen, President & CEO of Thirty-Three Productions, Inc. Thirty-Three, which executive produced the Salute! event, specializes in producing meaningful live entertainment events that inspire change and global awareness for social issues.

"My mission," revealed festival presenter Joby M. Yobe of the Ojai Beverage Company, "is to have everyone drink finely-crafted beer," adding, "they can also drink wine, but I'd really like to see them drink beer." (See VCBE Profile on Yoby)

Bonnie Weigel, of Food Share, Inc., said, "Today you're making a difference. Today you're going to help us alleviate hunger in Ventura County." She then presented plaques of appreciation to Yobe and Hansen and proposed a toast: "With much grace and much love, I say thank you on behalf of the Food Share family," she said, "Salute to Joby and Christine."

Yobe ended the introductions by calling several brewers and special guests to the stage to honor their passion and commitment to finely-crafted beer. Among them were Dan Kahn of Buckbean Brewing Company in Reno, NV; Steve Grossman (brother of Ken, the founder) from Sierra Nevada; Johnny Fincioen, founder (with his wife, Claudine Van Massenhove) of Global Beer Network, premier importers of Belgian beer; and David "Griff" Griffiths of Ladyface Ale Companie, which Yobe called, "An awesome place - you should try Griff's Chesebro IPA. It's one of our favorites."