Enjoy the taste of craft beers from both sides of the border at the second annual Bayside Brew & Spirits Festival from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29, at National City’s Pepper Park, 3299 Tidelands Ave.
The event is put together by the National City Chamber of Commerce to promote the city for future business opportunities in the craft beer industry.
“The chamber is organizing this as part of their comprehensive strategy to attract brewers to National City,” said National City Chamber of Commerce President Jacqueline Reynoso. “And also to market National City as a prime destination for microbrewers who are looking to open their doors or expand to a new location.”
Reynoso said Bayside Brew & Spirits Festival is the only certified independent bi-national craft brew festival in San Diego County.
Reynoso said attracting breweries from Baja is part of the chamber’s business and marketing plan.
“We really want to attract Baja brewers to move into National City,” Reynoso said. “We feel it’s a perfect fit for our demographic mix as well as being consistent with the city’s economic development goals.”
The craft beer scene is starting to pick up in National City, Reynoso said.
Embarcadero Brewing Company recently opened their doors to become the first craft brewery to open in the city. Reynoso said she anticipates the opening of Novo Brazil very soon, which is expanding and opening a tasting room in National City.
And a few years ago, Machete Beer House became the first AleHouse in all of South County.
The National City City Council last December also approved a policy that made it easier for craft breweries to open and do business within the city.
In addition to the beer festival, there will be musical entertainment by several musical bands such as Los Shadows, Bulevar Descarga and Quino and James from Big Mountain with Rick Sanchez from Los Alacranes.
Reynoso said the chamber has been receiving a lot of interest from potential breweries looking up to open in National City and she believes the Bayside Brew & Spirits Festival can help bring more attention to the city.
“The momentum is building,” she said.
Tickets can be purchased at: can be purchased at: https://ticketsauce.com/e/bayside-brew-spirits-festival-2018/tickets. Tickets $50 for VIP passes; $25 for general admission and $35 for day of the event. For those who do not drink, there are Designated Driver discount tickets of $12.50.
