COMMUNITY, SALEM EVENTS

Grab a drink for a good cause as Brewfest returns to Salem

A plethora of adult beverages will be on tap in Salem this weekend to benefit local kids.

The Salem on Tap Brewfest is returning to the Salem Convention Center, featuring a plethora of Oregon breweries, cideries and distilleries to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Salem, Marion and Polk Counties.

Prior to the pandemic, the event was a major fundraiser for the club, which operates low-cost after school and childcare programs for kids of all ages.

Kari Roberts, the nonprofit’s director of marketing, said in previous years it’s drawn about 4,000 to 5,000 people and raised over $100,000.

The event, historically held near Cinco de Mayo, was canceled in 2020 and 2021. Roberts said the nonprofit instead relied on additional state grants and other revenue to provide its programs as clubhouses operated at reduced capacity under Covid restrictions.

She said so far, pre-sales for the event are on track with 2019 numbers, but it’s too early to tell if it will draw the same crowds as before the pandemic.

“We don’t know yet what it’ll look like,” she said. “We’re just excited to be back and doing this again and have over 100 different beers and ciders and some canned cocktail options for people.”

The event runs Friday from 4-10 p.m. and Saturday from 2-10 p.m. at the Salem Convention Center, 200 Commercial St. S.E.. A one-day admission is $20 in advance or $25 at the door and includes four tastes. A weekend pass includes eight tastes and is $35 in advance or $40 at the door. Additional tastes can be purchased inside for $1 each.

For more information or to buy advance tickets, visit the Boys and Girls Club website.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.