First Vancouver Brewfest draws 5,000 attendees

The Vancouver Brewfest had a few hiccups in its first year, but overall it was a great success, organizers said.

About 5,000 people attended the festival, held Aug. 10-11 in Esther Short Park.

“It was a little less turnout than I was hoping for, but it was good,” said Cody Gray, one of the event organizers. “It was enough to keep us going for next year.”

Gray and Andrew Stromberg, the other organizer, said they had a few technology glitches and some minor problems getting enough ice during the festival, but otherwise things went really well — especially for the food vendors.

“I think we underestimated how much people were going to consume,” Stromberg said. “Our food vendors? People were going crazy. Woody’s Tacos sold out both days and Foody Blues I know sold out, restocked and sold out again.”

Visitors also consumed almost all of the beer supplied by the 25 brewers at the event, but despite that there were no major incidents that required police, Stromberg said.

“It was a great crowd — we didn’t have any problems at all,” he said.