The 19th Annual Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival
The Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival made its return for the 19th year on March 29th at the Atlantic City Convention Center. This year’s event featured over 100 breweries, 50 vendors and food trucks, and 12 bands. The festival was held in a single day with two sessions.
The festival offered an excellent selection of beers from favorites like Obscura Brewing Company, Asbury Park Brewery, Behr Brewing, Brewery Thirty Three, Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery (one of my personal favorites), and many more. Also featured was a mystery beer tasting, where attendees could sample 26 mystery beers and submit their guesses for a chance to win a prize. In addition to the brews, there were a variety of activities or shenanigans to participate in, including The Eliminator, Wonder Balls, Axe Throwing, and a Silent Disco powered by BeatBox. Festival goers also enjoyed numerous vendors like The Escape Plans, Punk Rock Saves Lives, Moon Guitars, J & J Beard Company, and The Atlantic City Beard and Mustache Club, to name just a few.
Session One featured performances on the Main Stage by Senses Fail, Hidden in Plain View, and Flycatcher, with DJ Dave Mass providing the tunes in between sets. The crowd for Senses Fail was awesome, with the pit going wild from start to finish during their 18-song set. They played songs like “Double Cross,” “New Jersey Makes, The World Takes,” and “Rum is for Drinking, Not for Burning,” before closing with “Bite to Break Skin.” On the acoustic stage, Stateside, Good Look, Sigourney, and Wave Break played fantastic sets. It was a treat to hear these bands in an acoustic form, and they all transitioned to it seamlessly. The acoustic session also featured a Beerfest first, Beerfest Karaoke, which turned out to be a huge hit with festival goers.
Session Two closed out the night with performances from Me First and The Gimme Gimmes, Catbite, and Mesh. When The Gimmes took the stage, they jokingly thanked everyone for inviting them to the "Catalina Wine Mixer," sending the audience into laughter before diving into “Changes.” The band played a 22 song set, including favorites like “Good 4 U,” “Jolene,” “Crazy for You,” and “Sweet Caroline,” before wrapping up with an encore performance of “End of the Road.” Over on the acoustic stage, Separatr, Max Davey, and Backyard Superheroes delivered solid performances. I was particularly curious to see how Backyard Superheroes, a nine-piece ska band, would handle the acoustic set. They did so flawlessly, bringing the band down to six members for the event without losing any of their sound. Following their performance, Beerfest Karaoke returned to close out the session, continuing to be a crowd favorite.
For the 19th Annual Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival, Good Time Tricycle once again provided an unforgettable experience, Near Dark Entertainment brought the best bands to the main stage, and Norstep Productions brought an outstanding lineup for the acoustic stage. I’m already looking forward to next year’s festival, which will be the 20th Annual, and I can only imagine what will be planned. Until then, there are still plenty of exciting events to check out, including Knee High Knuckle Buster Micro Wrestling, Downbeach Seafood Fest, Witchcraft Beerfest, and the Atlantic City Tattoo Expo.
