Local Brews/Local Grooves Fest, House of Blues Dallas
DALLAS – On August 8th, the second annual festival celebrating DFW’s leading breweries and musicians, took place at the famous House of Blues in downtown. Hailed as the “ultimate craft brew and music festival” by organizers, this year’s event drew a record number of patrons.
Thousands of beer aficionados and music lovers packed out all three levels of the venue; the crowd was so thick that it was literally elbow-to-elbow the entire day. Outside, the front parking lot was cordoned off to accommodate a few vendors. 
Patrons braved the 100+ degree temps to purchase food and non-alcoholic drinks, as well as to play games such as a bean-bag toss and super-sized jenga made with blocks of 2×4’s.
The Dallas Observer, a media outlet instrumental in promoting this year’s festival, was also set up outside.
Within the air-conditioned confines of the House of Blues, twenty of north Texas’ top breweries were offering four ounce samples for only a few dollars, were interspersed throughout each of the facility’s four concert venues: the Crossroads Restaurant, The Cambridge Room, the Foundation Room and in the main concert hall downstairs.
Represented were the Audacity Brew House, Bishop Cider Co., Cedar Creek Brewery, Cobra Brewing Co., The Collective Brewing Project, Community Beer Co., Deep Ellum Brewing Co., FirewheelBrewing Co., Four Corners Brewing Co., Franconia Brewing Co., Grapevine Craft Brewery, Lakewood Brewing Co., Martin House Brewing Co., Nine Band Brewing Co., Oak Highlands Brewery, Panther Island Brewery, Rabbit Hole Brewing, Peticolas Brewing Co., Rahr and Sons Brewing Co. and Revolver Brewing.
Alongside the beer tables were arts and crafts vendors selling all sorts of wares including artwork, clothing, cigars and even homemade jellies. Knick-knacks such as fanciful wine stoppers and custom designed bottle openers could also be found throughout the House of Blues.
Although the Crossroads Restaurant was serving up food, many ticket-holders turned to the multitude of local food vendors (inside and outside the venue) for sustenance, as well as for something to help soak up all the alcohol that had been consumed during the day.
Live music, the “Grooves” side of the festival, were provided by seventeen of DFW’s hottest bands and musical acts. At any given time throughout the fest, which began from 4 p.m., each of the four stages within the House of Blues were occupied by musicians, providing the perfect backdrop for a day of drinking and socializing.
The smallest of the performance areas, the Foundation Room, was the only locale not to present day-long live music. With the final act ending at around 8, a DJ stepped in to keep things rocking in the upstairs Foundation Room.
The headliner for the festival was the band Infinite Journey, who amidst a packed out house, took to the main stage at 9 p.m. Their performance was fantastic and proved to be the proverbial icing-on-the-cake by expertly capping off a perfect day of beer, food, fun and music.
The entire event was deemed a success by not only the festival organizers, but most importantly, by the thousands in attendance. All the paying customers that we talked to (and we talked to a lot of people) unanimously said that they had a wonderful time and that they would definitely be back next year. Along with the reporting of solid sales figures by the vendors, the certitude that this annual event will continue is without question.
Story and photos by Ryan Javier
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