This Microbrew's for You!
Beermeisters, give thanks. Foodie fanatics, break out the fat pants. Guess what's on tap this weekend?
How about more than 60 microbrews, specialty and imported beers at the River City Beer & Seafood Festival ? Plus enough baklava, spinach pies and shish kabobs at the Lebanese Food Festival to make your stomach sit up and say, "Thank you!" Lebanese Food Festival
Who says you have to hop a flight to Bahrain to get a little culture around here?
Not when the Lebanese Food Festival will be dishing up Lebanese delicacies such as baked kibbi, bubbaghanooge and grape leaves this Friday, Saturday and Sunday right here in Glen Allen.
Picnic tables and a covered pavilion make for great outdoor eating all weekend long around St. Anthony's Maronite Catholic Church. While you eat, enjoy costumed dancers performing traditional Middle Eastern dancing or ethnic music from the Mazloom Family band.
It doesn't cost a thing to enter this family festival. Sit-down dinners will run around $10, with boxed lunches a steal at $5.50 and a la carte items such as cheese pies and cabbage rolls priced at $1.50 and up. River City Beer & Seafood Festival
King of Beers? This Bud's for you? Fuggettaboutit. At least, for the weekend.
The River City Beer and Seafood Festival wants to introduce you to enough lagers, pilsners and microbrews from across the country to turn Brown's Island into a veritable Beer Olympics.
Looking for a brew with a goofy name? Try a taste of Old Brown Dog from Smutty Nose Brewing in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. How about something light and fruity? Check out the Purple Haze from Abita Brewing coming all the way from Abita Springs, Lousianna. Don't know where to start? "Beer Captains" , a few jolly volunteers from the James River Home Brewers, will be able to point you in the right direction, whether you're looking for a woodsy ale or a peachy cider. Interested in making your own brew? Check out the free "Beer 101: Beer Making for Dummies" seminars being held every other hour on Saturday and Sunday.
For the first time in its nine-year history, the River City Beer & Seafood Festival is offering free admission. (Last year, the boozy fest ran $8 a person). If you want in on the beer-rama, you will need to purchase a tasting mug for $5. Then each "taste" of beer, roughly 6 oz., will set you back $1.50 a ticket.
"The idea is: buy a strip of tickets and sample an ale," Robert Fleskes, marketing manager of citycelebrations , the non-profit organization hosting the event, explains. "If you don't like it, you don't have to blow your wallet. Just wash out your mug and try another."
And what goes great with a frosty, cold one? Seafood! Vendors from the Eastern Seaboard and closer to home will be serving up oysters, crab cakes, shrimp and crawfish galore (running anywhere from $3 to $10). Hammerheads , the famous Petersburg restaurant, will also be making the trek to the River City Beer & Seafood Festival to dish up grilled mahi mahi and alligator nuggets -- yep, you heard me. That's fried alligator nuggets.
And while you're there, check out the list of bands set to take the Brown's Island stage: Saturday, May 17
Junction (Acoustic Rock/Funk) -- Noon
Nicki Gonzalez Band (Jazzy Roots Rock) -- 1:30 p.m.
Phat Albert Band (Funk, R&B and Disco) -- 3 p.m.
The Boucan Brothers (Southern Rock) -- 4:30 p.m.
S.N.A.F.U. (Funky Rock Blues) -- 6 p.m.
The VooDUDES (Cajun Rock-a-billy) -- 7:45 p.m. Sunday, May 18
Rick McLemore (Smooth Jazz) -- 1 p.m.
Rachel Leyco Band (Rock) -- 2:45 p.m.
Alternate Root (Metallic Soul) -- 4:30 p.m.
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