Five years ago, a group of area beer festival enthusiasts got together and decided to fill the need for an event where there was no overcrowding, plenty of food, various arts would be enjoyed and of course craft beer would be celebrated. The plan for Steel City Big Pour was born and since that first event in 2006 at Construction Junction they've continued to raise the bar for how craft beer festivals should be organized.
Due to high demand of tickets in previous years, ShowClix was hired to manage online ticket sales. Monday at noon, tickets went on sale for Big Pour 5. Within 10 minutes the ticketing queue was filled and both sessions would sell out in under an hour. The speed of the sellout would rival that of nationally touring acts.
“ShowClix tickets tens of thousands of events around the country every year and the demand for Steel City Big Pour rivals some of the artist presales and music festivals that we ticket. “ says Lynsie Campbell, ShowClix Co-Founder & President.
ShowClix has a history of supporting large scale beer fests, such as The Arizona Strong Beer Festival, Boston Beer Summit, Omaha Beer Fest, Myrtle Beach Beer Fest, and Samuel Adams OctoberFest.
There were 3 ticket price levels available this year for both 3 hour sessions. Designated Drivers were treated to a $35 special price which granted admission to the event where non-alcoholic beverages would be provided along with a Uni-Growler, Taster Glass, Bottle Opener and Brew Caddy. General Admission was priced at $65 which included everything for the designated driver along with alcoholic beverages. If you were looking to get completely absorbed by the Big Pour spirit the $140 Reuse Enthusiast Sponsorship package was for you which, according to the Big Pour website, “includes a Big Pour ticket, a Big Pour T-shirt, a $25 CJ gift certificate, name recognition in the event program, and everything else you get with general admission.”
As tickets sold out, chatter on various social media sites wondered if enough were made available. Each session was allotted 1500 tickets for a final total of 3000. The key is to cap each session so everyone fits comfortably and has a good time.
Is the demand high for quality craft beer in Pittsburgh or is this a testament to the hard work for making Big Pour a premiere event? David Lagnese -- “The Main Instigator" as dubbed by Bob Batz of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette – shares his insight as one of the original organizers.
“Most of the people on our organizing committee have a lot of experience with beer festivals. Unfortunately, many of those events are not great experiences- hot and sweaty events that are oversold and overcrowded, with too much beer, not enough food, and music that is too loud. Our vision was to make the Big Pour unlike any other craft beer festival by combining great craft beer -- no crap, food provided by bars and restaurants that support the craft beer industry, with a heavy dose of art and music.”
The staff strives to make the event better and better --not bigger and bigger -- and wants those attending to be blown away by the Big Pour. They want people to talk about the event all year long and anticipate what will be in store for the next installment.
Organizers of beer festivals who go into these events strictly for profit tend to neglect the personal experience for the attendee. Does cost outweigh customer satisfaction?
David adds “My personal observation is that this is such a great craft beer event because it’s organized by a committee of people that are absolutely crazy about craft beer. It is not an event focused on making money. If it was, it would be a much different event.”
This event also serves as a fundraiser for Construction Junction to help sustain itself and grow its mission of “promoting conservation through the reuse of building materials” as David says. Support from the community is the instrumental for success.
Steel City Big Pour 5 will be held September 10th, 2011 at Construction Junction. First session is from Noon to 3pm and second from 5p.m. to 8p.m.
If you weren’t able to score tickets to the event fear not, there are plans brewing around Pittsburgh for events leading up to the big day with details coming shortly.
Additionally, if you’re interested in talking to ShowClix about ticketing for your beer fest, you can give them a call at 1-888-71-TICKETS (option 2) or via email at ticketing@showclix.com.
Comments