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A virtual, live beer festival over video chat is coming to San Diego

Pretty much all meetings right now are over video chat, so why not a festival?

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. —

It’s a time where many live events are being postponed or even canceled. However, one company had the opposite response. The COVID-19 pandemic actually inspired the invention of a new, live event. 

Ryan Austin is the director of sales and marketing for the Vegas-based Rock Star Beer. Austin and his coworkers, like all of us, have seen headline after headline of events being cancelled in order to abide by stay-at-home orders.

While many people understand that it’s the right decision to cancel these events, an empty calendar can be a bummer. That’s when Rock Star Beer brainstormed an idea.

“Something needs to happen to kind of like, help people out and make them excited about the weekend again,” said Austin. 

That’s why the company is hosting a live San Diego beer festival, but over video chat. 

“We saw a lot of people online kind of bored at their house, and we were like ‘how can we do something that feels like an actual event or something that we do, but do out of the comfort of your living room?’” said Austin.

When you buy your ticket, 10 specific beers will be shipped directly to your home or you can pickup the items from Tavern and Bowl in Downtown/East Village or Tap That in Oceanside. The company will only ship the locally-brewed beers to addresses in the Greater San Diego area.

On the day of the event, San Diego County breweries will talk to 2,100 online, local participants about the beers and ciders they’re drinking in real time over video chat. 

“You feel like you’re at an actual beer festival,” said Austin. 

The two-hour event can only be watched live. The video won’t be available to view later on.   

“It’s almost like a movie premiere,” said Austin.

Austin said while the event follows social distancing guidelines, it will still be interactive. 

“There’s interactive game play,” said Austin. “It’s made for you to not just sit there like a movie. The brewer is talking to you and you’re tasting that beer now.”

Even live bands will perform. The lineup is a secret for now, but Austin did hint that “they’re born and raised San Diego kids.”

The San Diego festival is on April 25, but the company’s first virtual beer festival will be in nearby Orange County this weekend on April 18. 

While this event isn’t the most traditional, it’s an outside-of-the-box way to connect San Diego’s beer lovers. 

“Hey, the industry needs something right now,” said Austin. 

Participants must be 21 or older. To purchase tickets, click here.

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