This year is the eighth annual Botanical Brewfest, which began in 2014. This year, it will be held at the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Saturday, October 14 from 6 to 9 p.m., with a VIP event happening at 5 p.m. It is a fundraiser for Friends of the Arboretum.
Brit Waye, Community Engagement Manager for the Arts and Recreation Foundation of Overland Park, noted that they actually missed a couple years in 2020 and 2022, so are happy to be back.
“The 2021 Brewfest took place on a very hot summer weekend in August, but traditionally the event is held in the fall,” she explained. “With that, we are eager to welcome everyone back this year for a cooler, more beloved fall-fest feel that guests know and love in October! Colorful, fall foliage in the gardens is a cherished and picturesque setting like no other.”
Botanical Brewfest is one of seven key fundraising events for Friends of the Arboretum, a division of The Arts & Recreation Foundation of Overland Park. Friends of the Arboretum’s mission and purpose is to preserve, enhance and promote the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. Funds for capital improvements, major projects, educational and volunteer programs are made possible by generous donors, membership dues, and special community events such as this.
Botanical Brewfest naturally came to be as a seasonal offering, welcoming folks out to enjoy the gardens, discover and support local breweries and restaurants, celebrate the season with yard games, live music and friendship, all while proceeds support the worthy cause of enhancing the future of the Arboretum.
“We’re looking forward to populating Stous Promenade and the grounds of LongHouse, the magnificent new visitor center, with dozens of vendor tents, live entertainment and yard games. Guests can enjoy over 100 varieties of beer, ciders, hard seltzers and even local Kombucha and non-alcoholic hop-waters from dozens of brewery vendors,” she said. “Vendors are still joining on, and our full list will be updated and found at our website, but here’s what we know now:"
Breweries: * denotes local
Abita, Ace, Alaskan, Breckenridge, Brewdog,*Brewery Emperial, Canarchy (Beast, Cigar, Dale, Basin,) Ciderboys, Cigar City Brewing, *Cinderblock, *City Barrel, Cutwater, Deschutes, Goose Island, *KC Bier Co., Kona, Montucky, New Belgium/Bells Nutrl, Odell, Ofallon, Oskar Blues, *Red Crow Brewery, Sierra Nevada, *Stockyards Brewing Co.,*Tea-Biotics, *Walnut River Brewing Co.
A wide variety of restaurants on site will include Werner’s Fine Sausages, KC Pretzel Boys, Duck Donuts, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Popculture. Live Music will include two live bands, Flashback and The Happy Wanderers.
The various activities of the Brewfest allow guests to cover tons of ground with access open to the entire Arboretum so they can explore the gardens and nature trails as day turns to night.
“String lights, fire pits, and camaraderie paint the evening with a warm glow of fall activity!” she confirmed.
The 300-acre Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens is an educational, recreational and cultural resource for the Kansas City region. At the Arboretum, you’ll experience beautiful gardens with more than 1,700 species of plants, a variety of landscapes, including meticulous gardens, wild hiking trails, and open prairie, and different educational opportunities around every bend in the path. Regardless of the time of year, the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens offers unique and unexpected pleasures to all who visit.
With fall weather upon us, this event will be a chance to get outside and enjoy nature for a good cause. For information on ticket prices and anything else about this unique event, visit their website.
Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens is located at 8909 W. 179th Street, Overland Park, KS. Visit artsandrec-op.org.