Katy Wild West Brewfest, named the Top Beer Festival in the United States by BeerYeti.com, enjoyed another record setting year for attendance and for charitable funds raised. Organized by the Katy Rotary Club, the Wild West Brewfest is a community effort and event chairman David Loesch couldn’t be prouder of what the festivalhas achieved.
“This event continues to amaze everyone, and we have many people to thank, from our patrons, sponsors, the City of Katy and the Rotary Club of Katy. The 2016 Wild West Brewfest generated over $140,000, up from $85,000 in 2015, which will all be given back to worthy causes in and around our great city,” said Loesch. “This event continues to be the premier Brewfest in the City of Houston and far beyond thanks to the tireless efforts of the Rotary Club of Katy and all of our 400+ volunteers. A big shout-out goes to all of our sponsors – the sponsors really make it happen,”
Attendance at this year’s festival topped 7,300 and this contributed directly to the record fundraising figure of more than $140,000. Loesch says the event was promoted well and the strong endorsement by BeerYeti.com certainly helped contribute to greater awareness.
“We were proud to win the #1 spot for the Best Brewfest in the Country and the most desired to visit in 2016 by BeerYeti.com,” said Loesch. “We wanted to live up to the expectations set forth by our sponsors, patrons, volunteers and our club. All of this drives us to do the best job we can while keeping the end goal, which is giving back to others. ”
The Katy Wild West Brew Fest was expected to improve over last year, but in fact surpassed expectations even further. “This means we can give a tremendous amount to Katy area nonprofits. The event has gotten so big we started setting up on Tuesday and didn’t finish until Friday afternoon. It is important to note that we are all volunteers. We donate our time and capital to make this event the best it can be because we are passionate about beer and helping others,” said Loesch.
The festival, which took place on Saturday, April 23rd, 2016 was preceded by a sold out Launch Party on Friday. Sponsored by the City of Katy, the Launch Party was a warm up to the main event and ended up a sell out, once again surpassing expectations. And with the added elbow room made possible by using the grounds at the Katy Mills Mall, the participating breweries also reached new heights, with 130 brewers this year pouring and serving over 630 different types of beers, up significantly from 350 beers in 2015.
With so much achieved in 2016, it’s going to be challenging to improve further in 2017, but I am completely confident that the Katy Wild West Brew Fest will reach even greater levels of success in the year ahead. I have been a proud sponsor of this festival since it debuted in 2012 and I will continue to support the effort for as long as the festival runs. A big congratulations to all of the volunteers, sponsors, and Katy Rotary Club for organizing and executing such a successful event and I look forward to even greater achievements in the coming year.
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