How to run a better fest courtesy of our neighbors in Arizona

After returning from my weekend beer sojourn to Phoenix, I struggled to come up with some sort of follow-up post. Some sort of review involving a slew of beers that cannot be acquired in New Mexico seemed pointless, so I almost let the memories of the Arizona Strong Beer Festival fade away. Then it occurred to me, as I described the fest to friends, that there were quite a few lessons about proper festival preparation/execution that I could provide.

Last summer, New Mexico (specifically ABQ) was overwhelmed with festivals. Most of them were, sadly, not up to snuff. We ran a story about festival fatigue and asked for lots of suggestions about how to improve things, and lo and behold we got quite a few. Our neighbors in Arizona have been running the Strong Beer Festival for quite a while now. After talking to the folks behind the booths, I learned that the organizers are still making improvements every year. Here are a few ways that they did a fest

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