Who doesn’t love a good festival? Ben and I had our first meads at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Southern California in the spring many moons ago. It’s magical being at a festival because you can enjoy food, vendors, and entertainment that you don’t normally see and pretend that the “real” world doesn’t exist, at least for the day.
But what does it take to practically pack up a tasting room and move it off site to pour mead at one of these events? More planning than you probably expect!
It starts with the basic logistics – can we serve alcohol? Can we sell bottles to go home? And then there are the details of what flavors to bring with us – you can’t bring all 20! So how do we get a good selection and try to keep almost everyone happy? By bringing a little of everything – something dry, something sweet, something herbal, something new. If it’s a renaissance/Viking event, Nordic Blend, of course!
Jenn ready to pour at Festival of Legends
Once we decide on which flavors, usually about 6-8, then comes the math of trying to figure out how many cases of each to bring with us. (Generally, a festival is far enough from the meadery that we can’t got back for extras if we run out!) Often, we can look at statistics of similar or previous festivals to determine how much to bring.
(Last year, we poured at the NC Wine Festival in Cary for the first time. We looked at the number of cases for similar sized events and brought 13 cases with us. We had completely miscalculated how thirsty everyone was after not attending a wine festival in over a year and a half. We came home with only 5 bottles after either pouring or selling everything else! We’ll need to bring more bottles this year!)
Can you find the mead maker in the crowds?
Then comes the packing! Tables, chairs, tents, signs, tablecloths, cups, coolers, and everything else. So much stuff to jam in a car… or two!
But, even with all the behind-the-scenes hassle, pouring at a festival is so fun because we get to introduce new people to mead and see old friends who are always glad we are there!
Upcoming Festivals for Starrlight Mead
The Viking Experience, Granville Convention Center, Oxford, March 26 & 27
Festival of Legends, Optimist Farm, Apex, April 23 & 24
Pop!-Con, Lee County Library, Sanford, August 20
NC Wine Festival, Koka Booth Amphitheater, Cary, October 15