I know, I know, you all are sick of hearing about beer festivals and Racks by the Tracks.
But, I actually had a personal request to review this year’s festival (which I was going to do anyway—now I just have an excuse!).
I’ll start off by saying I had a really great time again this year. There were a few negative things about the organization of the event, but I know organizers are already working hard to make Racks by the Tracks even better for next year.
First, I wasn’t a fan of the beer being separated from the ribs and music. I know they had to do this because of city regulations, but you honestly felt like you were attending two different festivals. You couldn’t hear the music very well from the beer tasting area and you couldn’t bring a tasting glass out with beer in it to watch the music. So, every time you exited to eat/ watch music you either had to transfer your drink to a plastic cup or buy a new one outside.
Second, the vendors ran out of food way too fast. Either we were all very hungry or they didn’t bring enough ribs. I only got three ribs the entire time and I did so right at the beginning of the day. When my husband went back to eat about 2:30-ish there were just a few vendors with any food left at all. One brought more, but it was a 45-minute wait for ribs. They really should not have run out of food 1.5 hours into a 7-hour festival.
Enough with the negatives. On the positive side, the number of brewers was greatly increased from previous years, which made for a much larger variety of tasting opportunities. The weather was great. The music was fantastic. All in all, very fun time.
If you’re interested in finding out about next year’s festival, go to www.racksbythetracks.com and sign up for e-mail updates.
What did you think of Racks by the Tracks? Leave me a comment here or e-mail me at thegotogal@hotmail.com. Make sure you put a real subject when you e-mail me. Thanks to roughly a zillion spam e-mails, I’m screening my emails and I don’t open anything without a subject. Thanks!!
| Mike Mahaffey Tribute at Capone's | |
| Regional musicians convene for the annual Mike Mahaffey Tribute at Capone's in Johnson City. Featured performers include Matt Mahaffey, Hans Rottenberry, The Butcher Covers, Tad Dickens, Terry McCoy, Bo Bradley, Quentin Horton, Stinky Finger, Andrea Hoskins, and more. |