Bethel's Summer Fest 2014 and 2nd Annual Beer Fest Were Spectacular!

Report and Photography by Paula Antolini

Be sure to check out all the photos from this past weekend's events, which include many Patch Fans happy to receive their Patch shirts at the Bethel fair!

See photos of Beer Fest here: picturesbypaula.com

See photos of Bethel Fest here: picturesbypaula.com

The Bethel Chamber of Commerce Summer Fest 2014 took place under sunny skies on July 11-12-13, 2014.

The event kicked off with the 2nd Annual Bethel Beer Fest on July 11th, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m..  Tickets for Friday night's event were sold out.  Guests socialized in the main tent on the Clifford J. Hurgin Municipal Center lawn where they had a pleasant selection of numerous brands of ice cold beer from local CT breweries.  The festival highlights craft beers and the brewers that create them.  Wine samples were also provided by Sunset Meadow Vineyards.  A delicious buffet complimented the outdoor event.  Owners of the Big Buddha Cigar Lounge of Newtown were on hand to offer a selection of cigars.

Spotted at the event were First Selectman Knickerbocker, State Representative Dan Carter, and Bethel Board of Education Chairman Lawrence Craybas, among others.

The Bethel Summer Fest street fair began on Saturday morning, June 12th, with more beautiful weather and high attendance, open until until 9:00 p.m. Sidewalk sales were from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday, all along Greenwood Avenue.  The event continued on Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m..

This year the street fair took place from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m on the Clifford J. Hurgin Municipal Center lawn and on School Street, which was closed off to provide more space for over 100 food and craft vendors.
The new additional space on School Street made the fair seem twice as large and provided room for a special children's train ride, along with large children's inflatable games on the lawn, and a toy car race track game and other activities for children.  

There were food vendors galore, which included Billy's Barbecue, Rita's Ices, Sal's Pizza, and a truck selling Lobster Rolls, to name a few. The festival had plenty of live music and entertainment, Magic by Danny Diamond, an Ice Cream Eating Contest, Tired on Sunday (Music of the 60-70-80-90's), Gilleoghan’s Irish Dance, Bethel’s Got Talent (by Bethel Music), and Traveling Danbury’s (Classic Rock Unplugged).

Everyone had a great time!  Thanks to the Bethel Chamber of Commerce and Marc Moorash for all the hard work in planning this event.  The event was sponsored by New Balance.