When the organisers were drawing up plans for last year’s inaugural Beers by the Bay beer festival on the Mornington Peninsula, the intention was always that it would be a fun day out for all the family. However, due to reticence on the part of the local police, they were only able to secure an over-18s licence for the event. Once again, however, when the 2,500 attendees rocked up to sample craft beer in the sun while listening to live music and chatting with brewers, craft beer drinkers did what craft beer drinkers always tend to do: they behaved.
“We really wanted an all ages festival last year but the police were a bit sceptical about kids and beer,” says festival founder Lachie Stoller, whose family ran the first event in November last year. “They were scared it would be like an Oktoberfest and that there would be a lot of younger people there getting drunk. Then they saw what the festival was and realised it was more like a barbecue with all your mates – people were there to enjoy themselves and taste the beers.
“The police were happy with the crowd. If you told people they needed to sit down and have a glass of water, they did without kicking off.”
The result is that, as well as the 20 beer and cider stalls, food, live entertainment and the like, there is a designated family area for this year’s event on November 16. There families will find croquet, bocce, mini-golf, a petting zoo, kids' rides and roving entertainers as the festival becomes what the Stollers always intended.
There are other changes too. Where as last year’s event took place on the fringes of Mornington Racecourse, this year it is moving into the Racecourse itself. That means there is access to a natural amphitheatre for the stage, where headliners Kisschasy will be joined by the likes of the Twin Beasts, The Fauves and the Quarry Mountain Dead Rats, plus a covered space in the bookies' tote area where the brewer stalls will be found. Food stalls will have their own part of the festival, while instead of running a separate education stage, there will be brewer Q&As, cooking demos and blind taste tests in between music on the main stage, which this year is hosted by local comic and beer lover David Fairclough.
As for the beer and cider stalls, Lachie says around 70 per cent of last year’s exhibitors are back, including all three Peninsula brewers, plus a few new faces. The beer lineup at the minute features:
- Red Hill
- Mornington Peninsula Brewery
- Hix
- Boatrocker
- Red Duck
- Grand Ridge
- Cavalier
- Prickly Moses
- Matilda Bay
- Tooborac Hotel & Brewery
- 4 Pines
- Little Creatures
- Hawthorn
- Yowie Lager
- Sail & Anchor
- True South
Expect a couple more to be added.
The festival runs from midday to 8pm, with last drinks at 7.30pm and a capacity of 4,500. There will be a shuttle buses from Frankston train station as well as Hastings and Rye both at the start and end of the festival.
“In year one, the numbers were a bit disappointing,” says Lachie. “We learned a lot in terms of how to operate it better and this year the police and the council have made it a lot easier to run.
“Ticket sales are already double where they were at this point last year, with our Facebook page getting 30, 40 or 50 new likes every day.
“The feedback we got from punters was that the people who came had such a great time – 90% of the feedback was brilliant. [Already this year] the local media, such as Pearl magazine, has been great and the local council has been on board too. We’re really excited about it.”
For more information or to buy your tickets, which start at $40pp for entry only, check out the festival website here.
