ELKIN — Despite swampy temperatures that hit the low 60s, Explore Elkin’s fourth Big Elkin Brrrfest still gave about 300 patrons plenty of reason to huddle inside Coley Hall on Saturday afternoon. Teaming up once again with The Great American Soup-Off competition, a crowd drawn from Boone to Greensboro enjoyed a festival atmosphere in about one-tenth of the space.
But yes, “There’s no ‘brrr’ about Brrfest,” laughed Melanie Church, visiting downtown Elkin with Barry Brown, both of Greensboro. They’d heard of the event through Church’s brother, Gwyn, who lives in Wilkes County, and decided to check it out. It was also a way to follow their favorite brewery, Oden Brewing Co. of Greensboro, making its first Brrrfest appearance.
“We went online and it said they were sold out,” Church said. “But then we were still able to come up with a ticket.” Brown was there to enjoy his favorite hazy India pale ale, Oden’s “Hints & Allegations.”
This underlines an important detail about Brrrfest, festival director Logan Haynes said. Seven small breweries anchored the all-you-can-taste portion of the afternoon, four of them first-timers. Haynes said one reason this Brrrfest’s crowd was the largest ever is because those brewers can draw a crowd, too.
“Breweries bring their crowds, too,” Haynes said. “The good thing about branching out to Boone, Statesville, and other areas is they’re able to bring some of their patrons with them.”
Explore Elkin founder Jeff Eidson gesturing at the crowd at its height, noted Brrrfest’s origins as an outdoor beer festival held in the fall. Problem is, autumn is high season for beer festivals, and Elkin was having trouble drawing beermakers who had committed to other (and usually larger) events months in advance.
“We needed to do this in February, and graciously, Tri-C partnered with us with the Soup-Off,” Eidson said. “And I think it’s worked out well for us both, it seems to have greatly increased the funds we both raise.”
Big Elkin Brrrfest would raise more than $5,000 from ticket sales, all of which benefited the Yadkin County United Fund, Eidson said. Additionally, a $500 betting-squares game, in which patrons watched a PlayStation 5 simulation of Super Bowl LVIII on Madden NFL 24, returned another $400 to the United Fund when three winners, all members of the Yadkin Valley Rotary Club, elected to donate their proceeds.
Probably the most unusual promotion in an event that included live music, a prize wheel, and beer and apparel for sale, Eidson said the Super Bowl simulation was his zany idea, but his son Thomas set up the console and the game’s parameters. “You watch, they’ll get into it,” Eidson laughed. “If someone walks in front of the screen, folks will tell them to get out of the way.”
No, Taylor Swift was not present for this virtual Super Bowl. But Carly Roberson of Lewisville, and her daughter Saylor, did appear in matching Taylor Swift Kansas City Chiefs jerseys. She grew up in Ronda, and has a grandmother in Boonville, which is what brought her over to Elkin. But also, “It’s just really cool here,” Roberson mused. (For the record, the Chiefs won this simulation, a 34-3 thrashing, dramatically different from the real contest, which ended 25-22 in overtime.)
Betsy Amburn Howerton, an Elkin native (and 1989 Elkin High School graduate) found herself unexpectedly thinking the same thing. Elkin was quite a different place 35 years ago, and to see it today with legitimate tourism appeal is a stark contrast at minimum.
“Elkin is so different now,” said Howerton, who was there with her husband, Rob. The couple live in Clemmons. “When I lived here, I guess I never knew the beauty that was all around us, or took it for granted.”
For her 50th birthday, she said she went hiking at Stone Mountain with friends and ended up getting lunch downtown. “If you’d asked me then what I wanted to do for my 50th birthday, I never would have said, ‘Go to Traphill and end up in Elkin,’” she laughed.
Brewers get Elkin’s diamond-in-the-rough appeal, too, just in a different way. “I really believe in what Elkin is doing,” said Ian Yancich, the head brewer of Laconia Ale Works in Sparta. “It’s such a small area, yet with so many great trails, it has a real impact.”
Yancich and Laconia were also Brrrfest first-timers, although the brewery has come to town for NC Trail Days in the summer the past two years. Laconia also brews beer poured at The Railyard beer garden downtown, which helped with recognition (and therefore sales of four- and six-packs) in the crowd.
Would Laconia be interested in visiting a fifth Brrrfest next year? “Oh, yeah,” Yancich said. “Anything they do in Elkin, I’ll be a part of.”
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