Green.Beer.Fest: a chance to celebrate craft beer and clean water!

Coming from New Hampshire, I was familiar with a slogan from the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP) that said “Clean Water, Tasty Beer.” Many local breweries were on board and used this slogan to promote advocacy for clean water. When I came to Colorado, I was excited to see this same attitude applied in many local breweries.

On September 27th, 2014, Green.Beer.Fest kicked off its second year. This fest is a “day long Colorado craft beer, creative mashup, and indie music festival hosted in Boulder, Colorado” that celebrates “clean water and all its uses from farming to Colorado craft beer.”

The Colorado Ocean Coalition (COCO) wears a number of hats, from community education to policy advocacy, to hosting fun community events! Green.Beer.Fest founder Wade Norris, recognized the work COCO does in this realm, and COCO was lucky to be named a beneficiary of the event!  Learn more about the brains behind this event here.

Shonika Proctor, the event’s “Creative and Marketing Misfit” told me that COCO was chosen because when Wade Norris, Green.Beer.Fest founder, and Vicki N. Goldstein, founder of the Colorado Ocean Coalition, met, “They continued talking and, as it turned out, both had a very strong synergy in their shared passion for water issues and how local actions, especially in developed countries, affects people globally.” With a similar mission, COCO was chosen as the non-profit beneficiary.

 Since I wasn’t able to attend the festival in person, I asked Mehgan Heaney-Grier, Ocean Ambassador Program Coordinator what she particularly enjoyed about the festival. Mehgan noted that she was excited that COCO was the beneficiary and it was great that a bunch of wonderful COCO Ocean Ambassadors came out to volunteer. She was also impressed with the two-girl band, 2 Girls With Guitars, featuring Caitlin, 15, and Sidney Powell, 12. Mehgan exclaimed, “along with our amazing local breweries, the beer and company was great!”

 

Ocean Ambassadors Bobbie Van Dyke & Jane Enterline having fun at the COCO Booth
Ocean Ambassadors Bobbie Van Dyke & Jane Enterline having fun at the COCO booth. Photo: Danni Washington

When thinking about the festival, Vicki N. Goldstein said, “I am thrilled that they reached out to COCO as the beneficiary of the Green Beer Festival. Without clean water, we will be hard pressed to make quality beer. It’s neat that people are connecting the dots when it comes to protecting our blue planet and drinking good craft beer.”

 

A creative display at the COCO booth
A creative display at the COCO booth.   Photo: Danni Washington

 

We need clean water for many things, and these local breweries are helping draw attention to that by way of tasty beer and community fun.

 For more information, see this great feature from the Huffington Post