MORE RHYTHM, MORE BREWS A celebration of suds and sounds returns, moving across town and ramping up the tunes for Rhythm & Brews 2024. BY BARRY KAUFMAN
When you’ve put on an event as wickedly popular as Rhythm & Brews, the day-long celebration that debuted last year bringing together the region’s top breweries and national musical acts, what do you do to follow that? How can you improve on an event that flooded Celebration Park with people last year and attracted incredible musical talents? The better question is, why would you? “Just like any festival, you do what you know works,” said organizer Jeff Gerber. “Don’t try to reinvent the wheel, and don’t overthink it.” He comes to this conclusion with experience. As Executive Director of the Hilton Head Wine & Food Festival, he’s stewarded 40
TASTEOFHILTONHEAD.COM
•
PHOTOS PROVIDED
an event that has always grown organically. Nobody forced through the changes that have seen the festival expand to a weeklong celebration, they just sort of happened. “We do wine and food so well, we learned that we should use that format because it works,” said Gerber. “We just
invert it.” That inversion marks one of the subtle improvements that will work its way into the second Rhythm & Brews Festival, being held this year September 28 at Shelter Cove Community Park. While the first iteration focused solely on craft beer, this year Gerber pans to add a handful of tents serving spirits and wine. “It makes it more appealing, especially if there’s one person in