A summer sliced eight days shorter thanks to Ohio University’s transition to semesters has Ohio Brew Week organizers starting to feel the heat.
For the first time in six years, Ohio Brew Week, and the 10,000 people the event typically attracts, will come to Athens about a month earlier, said Paige Alost, Executive Director of The Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Instead of commencing during the third week of July, the weeklong festival will take place from June 22 to June 30, she said.
“When Ohio Brew Week started, it was the only craft brew celebration in the world,” Alost said. “Now there are 10 or 20 craft brew celebrations in Ohio alone, so it’s a matter of what dates we can pick up and get the majority of the brewers, when people travel and when they can come in.”
Despite the event’s past popularity with out-of-towners, Alost said some might be hard-pressed to adjust to the new date.
“Any time you have a week like Ohio Brew Week that is consistently held at the same time, you always run the risk of either losing an audience or gaining one,” Alost said. “Sometimes it’s a risk for the better, sometimes not.”
The change was made to work around Ohio University’s Bobcat Student Orientation, scheduled to take place from July 12 to Aug. 4. The amount of people pouring into Athens for orientation and staying overnight in hotels doesn’t leave enough room for festival patrons, Ohio Brew Week Director Dan Gates said.
“We don’t want to invite a bunch of people to our festival and not have anywhere for them to stay,” he said.
In the past, Brew Week has been the biggest “money-maker” of the summer, in part because of its conjunction with another popular event, Boogie on the Bricks, Alost said. Though the live music festival usually rounds off Ohio Brew Week during the third Saturday in July, the events will not overlap this summer.
“The third Saturday in July has always been the biggest day of the year because the two separate events coincide,” said Art Oestrike, owner of Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery. “This year, there will be a lot of locals (at Boogie on the Bricks), but there’ll probably be a smaller attendance because the events won’t be happening together.”
Despite a difficult adjustment period, Gates said the event has a healthy enough following to secure the new date.
“The turnout could be tremendous,” Gates said. “There are not a lot of similar events going on in Ohio in June.”
The much earlier date could cause a problem for local businesses like Jackie O’s, leaving a smaller window for preparation time after a hectic spring quarter, Oestrike said.
“June is going to be explosive,” he said. “Spring quarter is always crazy, and the last one will probably be extra special. We tend to run out of beer, but then we’re ready for the huge demand by the time of Ohio Brew Week. We won’t have that (time to prepare) this year.”
Still, this could be the most profitable summer because students might decide to stay in Athens over break with the transition from quarters to semesters, he said.
“This year should be one of the busiest years Athens has seen,” Oestrike said. “There will be more students in town because they’ll want to get their quarter hours in.”
While this year’s schedule has been mapped out, the city is unsure of what the agenda will look like for future summers when the semester system is in full swing. When student orientation moves around next summer, it is likely that Ohio Brew Week will move back to its original date, said Alost.
“Change is difficult, but sometimes a little shake-up makes you pay attention to the things you’re going to work to hang onto,” Alost said. “It makes us think a little harder, but we need that every once in a while.”
kg278810@ohiou.edu
