The Lincoln Lager Barleyfest Committee is pleased to announce the donation of $6,000 to the River District Development Foundation from the proceeds of the 10th Annual Lincoln Lager Barleyfest. The donation is going towards the refurbishing of the interior of the Agra Pavilion. This donation will allow the interior restrooms to be finished. Including this donation, the Barleyfest Committee has donated over $33,000 to local charities in its 10 years of existence. Past benefactors include: Lincoln County Humane Society, Merrill Food Pantry, Normal Park Improvements, Merrill Tornado Relief Fund, Merrill Park Endowment, and the Bierman Family Aquatic Center.
The Lincoln Lager Barleyfest event is a safe and unique craft beer tasting festival organized by the Lincoln Lager Barleyfest Committee, as a function of the Merrill Parks & Recreation Department. The festival relies 100% on sponsorship support and ticket sales in order to run the event and contribute to these charities. Since year one, Dave’s County Market has been the presenting sponsor.
“We are extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful presenting sponsor and could not have started this event without them. Without the generosity of our local businesses and volunteer committee, the festival would never have become a reality,” said Merrill Parks & Recreation Director Dan Wendorf.
Attendance has grown each year, greatly enhancing the community tourism trade. This year’s attendance was over 600 people, with over 300 of them coming from outside the Merrill area. Using ticket stubs, it was determined that festival attendees came from over 60 different cities and seven different states. It has always been a goal of the Barleyfest Committee to make this festival a destination event for not only our own citizens, but to showcase our community to visitors.
“We cannot thank all of our sponsors for their support over the years, we have an incredible amount of sponsor retention – which allows us to bring this event to you every year! We are also very thankful for all of the event goers for visiting from near and far each and every year. The best way to gauge a great event is if we have repeat visitors and a growing attendance and we are very thankful that we have both. We are gaining the reputation as one of the premier craft beer tasting festivals in the entire State of Wisconsin!” Wendorf said.
Plans are already underway for the 11th Annual Lincoln Lager Barleyfest, to be held at the Smith Center Arena at the MARC on Oct. 6, 2018, from 2-6 p.m. To become a sponsor, or get involved with Barleyfest, please call 536-7313. For additional information and to see past sponsors, breweries, and view pictures, please visit www.llbarleyfest.com, “like” Lincoln Lager Barleyfest on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter @llbarleyfest.