Buskers take on the ‘Burg with colorful shows

Jacqueline Hixssen Sports Editor

Icicle Brewing. For others such as Doghaus Brewing, Hellbent Brewing and Lumberbeard Brewing, this year was their first time attending the festival.

“This is our first time here, and it’s been great,” said Lumberbeard Brewery Sales Representative Conner Desmond. “I just love the camaraderie of an event like this. We’re at a local business, we’re drinking beer from a local small craft brewery, we’ve got a local band playing, and everyone’s just out and enjoying their weekend.”

Many of the brewers said it’s all about being able to share what they make with others.

Whipsaw Brewing manager and CWU graduate Karley Bentler said, “We’ve had a lot of people come up to us and say ‘we love whipsaw, we love your beer,’ so it’s just awesome to be able to share our beer with everyone.”

This festival not only showcases local breweries, but it also showcases local musicians. Each venue featured live music performances, with a total of 11 local artists and bands.

One of the performers is a Cle Elum local and CWU graduate Justin Rui, who also performed at last year’s Winterhop Brewfest.

“It’s been awesome, man, I came out here to be able to perform for everyone … It’s been a great experience,” Rui said.

Other performers at this year’s Brewfest included Birdie Fenn Cent, Micah J and Chance Richardson, with many more.

The event’s headquarters, located in Unity Park on Pearl St., had two food vendors: Big Dogs Grill selling gourmet hotdogs and The Corn Dog Company selling homemade corn dogs.

This year also marked the first time Brewfest was fully indoors since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Anderson.

Tickets for the event sold for $45 which included a commemorative Ellensburg Rodeo taster glass. Some tickets were also sold for $60, and included everything the $45 ticket offered, plus early access and a bag filled with Winterhop Brewfest merchan-

Children laughed and ran around the streets, the Saturday farmer’s market in full swing while unique talents filled downtown Ellensburg during the Buskers in the ‘Burg festival on Sept. 24.

The 12 performers included magicians, violinists, tarot card readers, bands and more. They ranged from children to adults. The two featured performers were local circus-comedy artist Hillia and Big Rich, a traveling magician with a magic rap performance.

Buskers in the ‘Burg is put on by the Ellensburg Downtown Association (EDA) with help from the Blue Bear Puppet Lab. Giant puppets depicting humans and animals with oversized heads in comical poses paraded through the bustling town.

According to the EDA’s Community Engagement Specialist, Teresa Chanes, the event was originally founded by Lee Honeycutt with hopes to “showcase local artists.”

Chanes said, “Ellensburg has a huge arts community that people don’t really realize … so it was a way for us to allow people to show and display their talent.”

The artists are found primarily through social media. According to Chanes, the EDA posts on their social media accounts prior to the event with a sign up sheet which can fill fast due to the amount of talent in the valley.

As Ellensburg is typically quiet, Tyler Feddema, a Seattle student who frequently visits his friends going to CWU, said, “You just normally don’t see this type of stuff in Ellensburg, it’s been a cool thing to walk through.”

To find more information on future Ellensburg events, or to get more information about next year’s Buskers in the ‘Burg festival, readers can visit the Ellensburg Downtown Association website.