Tickets On Sale For BAM Fest 2014 – October 26, 2014

Santa Monica, CA – On Sunday, October 26, 2014 from 1pm- 5pm, 18th Street Arts Center is bringing its renowned BAM Fest (Beer Art & Music Festival) to the Westside of LA. This year’s 5^th annual celebration is part of 18th Street’s 25^th Anniversary weekend that starts on October 25^th with a chic benefit event from 6-10pm and continues on Sunday with BAM Fest. The weekend celebrates 18th Street Arts Center’s rich legacy over the past 25 years and will include everything from performance art and video art installations to gourmet food from local restaurants and food trucks, live music by 3 bands as well as artisanal wine, spirits, and specialty beers from over 40 craft breweries.

The event is a steal, with tickets priced at just $45 before October 24^th and $50 at the door (that is if tickets aren’t sold out by then!). BAM Fest attendees love spending a Sunday afternoon sipping in the sun, engaging with artists, and exploring significant artworks while listening to booty-shakin’ music. But what really makes this event special for its guests is that they know that all proceeds benefit 18th Street Arts Center, a 25-year-old, influential non-profit arts organization in Santa Monica. It is a culturally infused event that benefits a great cause.

“I love that BAM Fest is more than just a beer festival!” – Anders Nilbrink, Firestone Walker Brewing Company’s LA Events Coordinator. So do we, Anders!

Participating breweries have been carefully selected by the team and represent the best of the craft beer industry. The 40+ breweries range from big to small, including the popular and widely known New Belgium Brewing Company and Angel City Brewing Company to newly launched breweries including Three Weavers Brewing Company, whose main goal is to cultivate community through beer. Another new brewery on the scene is Santa Monica Brew Works which has given 18th Street additional support as a lead sponsor.

The diverse craft beer offerings at 18th Street’s Beer Art & Music Festival present a range of styles for tasting enjoyment. For the beer connoisseur, this year’s BAM Fest is showcasing limited release seasonal beers such as Hangar 24 Craft Brewery’s Seasonal Oktoberfest and dark strong ales like Brother Thelonious Belgium Style Abbey Ale from North Coast Brewing Company, which partners with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in support of Jazz education. Along with their Golden Road Hefeweizen, Golden Road Brewing will also be featuring their Might As Well IPL, a lager highlighting bold passion fruit and pear contributed by Galaxy and Calypso hops.  A special bonus for BAM Fest attendees will be the opportunity to participate in 20-minute mini-educational sessions called ‘Crash Courses’ by craft beer, wine, and art experts. These fun and engaging classes cover a wide range of topics such as how to pick out food flavors from different beers or how art could be paired with some of the best wine and beer. And for those who prefer fermented grapes to hops there will also be an area to sample some of the nation’s finest wines hosted by Wine Enthusiast, Allie Merrick as well as non-alcoholic home-brewed sodas by the Maltose Falcons, America’s oldest Home-Brewing Club. This year BAM is also including Mama’s Boy Infusions, the one of a kind tequila fruit infusion with an original chili kick as well as the semi-sweet, orange-blossom honey mead of Golden Coast Mead’s Mirth in a Bottle. Clearly BAM also has your delicious and exciting alternatives to all of its many craft beers.

The tunes lined up for BAM Fest is just as diverse as the beer samples. From the Latin infused rhythmic sounds of KoTolàn whose songs, celebrating cultural diversity, are sung in Japanese, Spanish, and English to the dance-inducing soulful funk of Nick Shattuck; the featured music at 18th Street’s BAM Festival is sure to make you move. The young duo of the new hit band Trapdoor Social will take attendees on a musical tour with their passionate alt-pop music that is inspired by their desire to bring awareness to solar and other renewable energy sources.

BAM attendees will also be able to do more than just see or purchase art; they will actually be able to interact with and visit the studios of 18th Street Arts Center’s artists-in-residence and arts organizations like Otis College of Art and Design’s MFA in Public Practice program.  As one of 18th Street Arts Center’s patrons remarked, ‘There is something to be learned, or something to stimulate the imagination at 18th Street all the time because it is a place where art is made…not just exhibited, but actually created.’ Through BAM and other events throughout the year, 18th Street Arts Center incites its public through challenging art that sparks dialogue.

Need a little something to soak up all the scrumptious brews? Naturally you can’t have a festival in Los Angeles without food trucks. A diverse selection of six food trucks such as will provide a bounty of signature dishes that should keep your grumbling stomach at bay. Food Trucks include DogTown Dogs, Baby’s Badass Burgers, Cousins Maine Lobster, India Jones Chow, Meat-the-Greek and the Border Grill Truck. The science, technology and culinary art of NITROPOD, frozen liquid nitrogen desserts, will also be a part of the gourmet food at this year’s event. With the marriage of beer, art, and music, BAM Fest has brewed a one-of-a-kind fundraising event. This is one craft beer festival not to be missed!

To support 18th Street consider purchasing tickets securely online at http://www.18thstreet.org/bam

BAM – Sunday
October 26, 1-5pm
pre-sale tickets: $45 before October 24; $50 at the door.
Event produced by artisanal drink, food and cultural event planner, Nicole Gordillo Schimpf, Tap & Cheer Events.

All proceeds benefit 18th Street Arts Center, a Santa Monica 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Participating Craft Breweries