By now, pretty much any Philly folks interested in beer have heard about (and probably bought tickets for) tonight’s Xcellent XFest Holiday Beer Festival at the Penn Anthropology Museum. Perhaps you’ve even spent some time on their website, or started following them on twitter. All commendable! Well, to help make your night’s sampling adventures as productive as possible, the Bloktoberfest crew has scoured literally tens of different sites across the internet to compile a quick n’ dirty XFest Beer Guide, detailing all the wonderful flavors, spices, and ABVs you’ll be choosing from. Use it wisely, children. Use it wisely.
Bloktoberfest 2009 Photos
Oct 30
Our first batch of amazing fest photos, courtesy of Jerrold Adler, a neighborhood resident and shutterbug. Be sure to visit his online portfolio, as well as his photoblog, Compact Flash. We’ll have more photos soon, as well as mp3s from several of the bands’ live sets, so stay tuned!
Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer
Well, That Was Awesome
Oct 25
The first ever Bloktoberfest is in the books, and it really couldn’t have gone any better. We hope everybody enjoyed the beer, music, food, and especially the company. The sheer amount of good vibes being put down all day long pretty much blew us away.
We’re in the process of compiling all the sights and sounds of yesterday’s awesomeness to display here on the website. If you have photos or video clips you’d like to share, please forward them to our attention at info@bloktoberfestphilly.com.
The Bloktoberfest planning committee would like to extend our deepest thanks to everybody who helped make this event such an unqualified success: the breweries, the bands, the food trucks, the artists, the members of the Shiloh Baptist and St. Charles Borromeo Churches, the residents of the 2000 block of Christian Street, SOSNA, the 17th Police District, the offices of Councilman Bill Green and State Rep. Babette Josephs, our generous sponsors and promotional partners, Rasheed Dugan and Nu Millenium Sound, mother nature (for holding back that deluge just long enough!), and of course, our amazing crew of volunteers.
Bloktoberfest Is Today!
Oct 24
You heard right. It’s gonna be 70 degrees outside – and yeah, a little humid – which sounds like perfectly lovely beer drinkin’, food truck dinin’, block rockin’ weather to us. For the record, we’ll have a little over 2,000 square feet of tents set up on the block, so even the gnarliest of squalls won’t dilute your lager a bit. No rain dates, no excuses; WE are the block party we’ve been waiting for. Let’s do this.
Facebloktoberfest
Oct 23
Needing a little more quality social media time with Bloktoberfest? Go ahead and check out our event page on Facebook! Not only will you get e-mail alerts from us if anything changes last minute; you can also post obnoxious things on our wall, connect with other folks who’ve RSVP’d, and generally familiarize yourself with what they look like before you put on your beer goggles.
New Brew On The Menu
Oct 23
Like Matt Stairs pinch-hitting in the bottom of the 9th, we’ve got a new beer stepping in at the last minute:
Sly Fox
Out: Pikeland Pils
In: Renard D’or
Sly Fox’s website describes this very limited offering as “a Belgian style Golden Ale brewed with German Pils malts and Candi Sugar. A light bodied, complex ale that can sneak up on you like a sly fox.” And like Matt Stairs, this beer is one hefty customer, clocking in at 7.9% ABV.
photos courtesy of Hidden City Philadelphia
It’s On, Rain Or Shine
Oct 22
We’re still not ready to believe the weather man just yet. But even if Saturday does bring a few showers our way, Bloktoberfest has got you covered. Literally. We’ll have plenty of tents up all around the block, the stage has a roof, and we hear beer tastes just as good in the rain (maybe even better). So don’t let a little drizzle stop you from coming out to enjoy a party for the ages.
There is a totally awesome roller skating rink at the corner of 20th and Christian streets. Let’s repeat that: there is a totally awesome roller skating rink at the corner of 20th and Christian streets. Wondering why you’ve never been? Is this the city’s single best kept secret? No matter, because Bloktoberfest is busting this story wide open. St. Charles Borromeo Church opens this incredible recreational resource up to the public on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, and also rents the facility out for parties and private events. In fact, they’ll be hosting a public skating night this Saturday from 8-11PM, immediately following the conclusion of Bloktoberfest, so there’s no excuse for missing out on the 4-wheeled fun!
Every great party needs a great DJ, and ours is no exception. DJ Handsome Sam, a Philly native and fixture on city turntables for the better part of a decade, will be holding it down before, in between, and after the live band performances on the Bloktoberfest stage. Expect the same VIP treatment you’d get at any of his regular gigs: classic hip hop, disco, and dancehall grooves, guaranteed to get you shimmying and shaking and spilling beer all over yourself.
MySpace: DJ Handsome Sam