Like live music, buying cheap vinyl records and CDs, supporting a local public radio station and, most importantly, sampling a wide selection of craft beer? What about a robot that pours you your own beer? Well, then this Friday, Feb. 7, and Sat., Feb. 8, is your own personal thesis statement of utter bliss if you visit the KLCC Microbrew Festival at the Lane Events Center.
“We like to say the brewfest puts the ‘fun’ in fundraiser,” said Gayle Chisholm, KLCC’s marketing director and brewfest coordinator. “It’s a great way to learn about beer and have a good time.”
The annual microbrew festival, a fundraiser for Eugene’s own donation-fueled public radio station KLCC, kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday and offers participants a chance to see live and local music in the form of reggae-influenced Sol Seed on Friday and the bluesy Hank Shreve Band on Saturday, a used vinyl and CD sale and wide selection of local and national craft beers — and people too.
“It’s a rare event that’s inclusive to all ages,” said Chisholm. “You can see people anywhere from 21 to 70 years old mingling about.”
According to Chisholm, the festival will feature 66 booths and over 150 different beers donated to the festival by breweries ranging from local favorites like Oakshire, Ninkasi and Viking Braggot, to nationally renowned ones like 21st Amendment, Lagunitas and New Belgium.
The festival will also feature a booth of German themed beers brewed by local breweries and another booth that features a robot specifically designed to pour beer for lazy humans — the dream of legions of university students.
And in the weeks leading up to the festival, KLCC takes donations of vinyl records and CDs that they sell for $4 and $2, respectively, on Friday and $3 and $1 on Saturday.
And in the donated collection of music are some real jackpots, Chisholm points out, like for example last year, when she found a copy of Alice Cooper’s 1972 album “School’s Out“ with it’s iconic album sleeve that opens like a school desk.
“It’s great. You can hold a beer in one hand, and flip through stacks of records with the other,” said Chisholm.
And the Emerald’s own photobooth will be in attendance, a booth that Chisholm says inexplicably gets more popular as the night wears on.
According to Tripp Sommer, KLCC News Director and avid beer brewer to boot, the event is a logical way to keep the station funded and also provides the community with a good time.
“It’s good for Eugene because in the Northwest is a growing culture of brewing. It’s a win-win,” said Sommer. “It’s part of our demographic.”
“Events like this make sense for the local community,” said Joe Gibson, a representative of Dari Mart, one of the event’s principal sponsors. “The impact is great for everyone.”
Admission to the 21-and-over event is $12 in advance and $15 at the door and runs from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday, and 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday.