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Burning Foot Beer Festival
Game on! BURNING FOOT BEER FESTIVAL LAUNCHES 2021 FESTIVITIES
Ed Fritz MiBrew Trail
As Muskegon, the state of Michigan and the rest of the country moves forward with life postCOVID, the folks at the Lakeshore Brewers Guild are moving quickly to do their part. The 2021 Burning Foot Beer Festival started selling tickets on June 12 for their Aug. 28 event on Muskegon’s expansive Pere Marquette Beach. The popular festival will be back after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Burning Foot bills itself as Michigan’s only barefoot beer festival on the beach. “Obviously, it has been a very difficult year for the guild and its members. We’re anxious to get back on the beach and to see our customers,” said Allen Serio, the co-founder of Burning Foot and Lakeshore Brewers Guild member. Serio and co-founder Jim Hegedus made the tough call last year to cancel the event and even tougher call early this year to move forward so they were ready if the pandemic protocols allowed. In 2014, the event was born out of a sense of deep community pride for Muskegon natives Allen Serio and Jim Hegedus. Muskegon’s brewery scene was in its infancy. Pigeon Hill Brewing and Unruly Brewing were both getting ready to open new operations. “We thought it would be so cool to give people outside of Muskegon a chance to experience our beach and a Lake Michigan sunset,” Serio said, making reference to the festival’s location and hours into the evening. The inaugural event took place in the summer of 2015. The festival itself is built in a circle to give attendees a 360-degree view of Pere Marquette’s beauty and atmosphere. “This is so much more than a beer festival on the beach,” says Serio, who also is the owner of Wonderland Distilling Company in Muskegon. Serio cited an example of an issue a couple of years ago when one brewery from the east side of the state had unexpected staffing issues at the last minute and was going to have to pull out of the event. Quickly another brewer, who was in the area, pulled together some staff of their own to come over to the event and run their taps so that the show could go on. In past years, Burning Foot has featured more than 80 breweries from around Michigan and other
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MI Brew Trail | Summer 2021
states that boarder Lake Michigan. Serios expects the number to be about the same this year. “We will end up with a waiting list of breweries that want to participate,” said Serio. The breweries that end up at the event are hand picked by the Guild and encouraged to bring unique or festival-only kegs. “Our hope is that attendees will be able to drink some beers they have never tried before,” Serio said. Beach camping will again be available for the 2021 event. Both tent and RV sites will be available at Pere Marquette Beach. The festival has been growing each year since its inception with an attendance peak in 2019 approaching 5,000. Serio is not sure what to expect for demand this year but is planning on attendance close to 2019 results. The Burning Foot Festival includes food from six local Muskegon eateries. Serio smiles and mentions, “this is not carnival food.” A portable stage is also brought in from California to provide entertainment with a full slate of local and regional acts. Building on their culture of community, the festival benefits three local non-profits. Noah’s Project, the local Muskegon no-kill animal shelter, runs a “shoe check” for patrons to leave their shoes and other belongings at the entry. The Boys & Girls Club add a “bike valet” service allowing festival goers to get to the beach via bike trail or those that want to avoid the beach traffic. Kid’s Food Basket of West Michigan will be on site selling “pretzel necklaces” that pair well with the many beer offerings. The world has changed in so many ways in the last year. Burning Foot hopes they can provide at least a little glimpse of life after COVID. Find details about Burning Foot Beer Festival on their Facebook page or at burningfoot.beer.
