The Edmonton Folk Fest Beer Tent

I just spent the last weekend doing what I always do on this particular weekend of the year; grooving and chilling at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. It is always a highlight of my social calendar in the year. Rocking to long time favourites (this year Michael Franti) and the joy of discovering someone I had never heard of before (this year that prize goes to Hudson Taylor) make it an unforgettable weekend each and every year.

It will surprise you not that I also spend my share of time in the beer tent (officially called the “beer garden”, but to us seasoned, grizzled vets it will always be the beer tent). And that experience is usually less memorable. Not because of the company – it really feels like a large 4-day kitchen party in there – but because of the beer. The Edmonton Folk Fest, like most festivals in Canada, is a tied house. Sponsorship deals lead to only one brewery getting access to the thousands of thirsty patrons looking for a beer or two after seeing some great music on the hill. In the case of the Folk Festival, the fortunate brewery is Big Rock. This year they offered their Saaz Pilsner, IPA and, of course, Trad and Grasshopper.

Over the course of the weekend I tried bouncing between three (I generally avoid Grasshopper like a plague of locusts), and still came away rather unsatisfied. On their own, I don’t really have too large of a complaint about them. The Saaz is a drinkable, decent pilsner, Trad continues to offer reliable flavour and the IPA, while rather disappointing as an IPA does have some things going for it. But put them together and it is a rather uninspiring lot.

I complained about this last fall (which you can read here) when hearing about the range of options at British music festivals. But with my last glass of Trad still lingering, I feel compelled to complain again. In part because as each passing year comes and goes, the excuse for not offering  a range of craft beer choices gets less credible. This year I discovered another local beer aficionado (who will remain un-named for obvious reasons) was driven by the lack of choice to smuggle in cans of craft beer to sate their thirst. This is, of course, a forbidden act due to AGLC rules (can’t really blame the festival for that one), but at least they opted for cans rather than bottles (bringing glass onto the festival site is a MUCH more grievous misdeed in my opinion). So while I officially wave my tsking finger at them, I also silently applaud their determination to drink a range of good beer.

Whether it is a sports venue or a music festival, the dollars that come from exclusive contracts and sponsorship are simply too hard to ignore, and that is why they happen. Or at least that is the popular wisdom. I am not saying it isn’t true – Big Rock pays big money to festivals for exclusivity, money desperately needed by cash-strapped festivals. But if we look to Britain, or to sports arenas in the U.S., they find a way to offer a more eclectic range of beer offerings without seeming to suffer too much financially. Of course, I am not their accountant so can’t be sure, but the model does seem workable.

I think the core of the issue is that festivals (and sports events) don’t leverage their own bargaining power enough. The Folk Festival has 25,000 people a day who are provided no choice but to drink the offerings in the beer tent. That is worth more to a brewery than the festival gives itself credit. I argue at the next contract renewal negotiations, if the Folk Fest said to Big Rock, “you will allow a couple of taps for other breweries” as a starting point, Big Rock won’t walk away from the table.

I spent time thinking about it over the weekend. The Festival could go a couple of routes profitably. First they could continue to give Big Rock all the branding and promotional space (glasses with logos, banners, tap handles, ads, etc.) and charge them for that promotion. A couple of other breweries would be allowed to provide product, but not be given the same degree of profile. I think Big Rock might go for that.

Or they could take a  more innovative route. Big Rock is now an active member of the Alberta Small Brewers Association. Why not transfer the sponsorship contract to the association? Big Rock would still be the anchor producer and get the bulk of the promotion, but then there would be a mechanism for rotating beer from the other breweries in Alberta (there is no rule that says you have to stick with the same beer for all four days – a brewery could get one day only and rotate out). As for money, the association could work out a proportional fee or something – the larger the brewery, the more they pay, but the more space and taps they get. Details, obviously matter, but this was my Sunday afternoon beer tent brain wave.

I could see it working. It would allow for more promotion of Alberta breweries, and – more importantly – the very concept of Alberta craft beer. Big Rock would still get its share of the pie, but then they would be seen as part of a larger movement, rather than just a giant squeezing out small breweries, which has to help their public image.

Who knows? Pie in the sky? Maybe. But someone has to start talking about alternatives, so it might as well be me. I resolve to actually get off my butt on this one this year. I am telling myself that in a couple of months (after giving the hard-working festival staff time for a rest) I plan on approaching the festival to start a conversation about their approach to beer. It may not go anywhere, but at least I can say I tried.