FriendFest 2010 was held this past Saturday, February 27th 2010. The event, a craft beer and wine festival, was held by Friend, Inc. in Kutztown, PA. This was the second annual FriendFest and we had the pleasure of attending for the second time. The tickets cost $25 per person in advance, which were available on the website, or $30 at the door.

The festival last year was a bit unorganized. Not in the sense that it was chaotic but obviously it was a learning experience considering it was their first year hosting. A vast number of improvements were made for the 2010 festival. First, instead of having one large session like the first year, they divided it up into two different sessions. This seemed to help out immensely with the cluttered crowd from last year. The ticket prices were offered in advance and at a discounted price. Not only was this a price cut, but this eliminated the long line to wait and purchase tickets.

To me, it seemed there were far less breweries and substantially less wineries that attended this year. Considering the success of last years’ event, I would have thought more breweries and wineries would be willing to attend. Another thing that bothered me was the lack actual representation of the breweries. A lot of the breweries sampling their beer had people representing them that don’t even work for them. So, when I had a question about the brewery or beer, etc., while they seemed knowledgeable – they didn’t even work for them! This doesn’t seem like the best way to market your business. And seriously, the craft breweries need all the help they can get in the market-share arena.

That’s not to say that they all were without real representation. Allentown Brew Works had their guys there, which were a pleasure to talk to. As did Yuengling and a few others. Overall, it was a wonderful time just like last year. There are definitely things they’ve done right this time around but there’s always things to improve upon. It goes without question that I’ll be back next year but I really hope to see more representation from the breweries.