KCRag Forum

Wait - Are you saying that The Star gave a positive review to the event sponsored by Ink? GET OUT!

Some of the most interesting feedback that I read was that the festival did a very poor job of communicating with the other businesses down there, never mind the residents. I guess there were a ton of problems for the "locals", which is sort of a bummer.

Still, I am sad that I missed it and look forward to having a more festival-friendly travel schedule in 2015.

Hopefully they can iron out the kinks.

Boulevardia 2015 happening June 19-21 in West Bottoms

Mark your calendars: the 2015 Boulevardia beer festival will take place June 19-21 (Father’s Day weekend, for anyone wondering), once again at West Bottoms.

Festival organizers promise to build and improve upon the successes of the first festival, which was held in June and attracted more than 35,000 attendees. It was created by Boulevard Brewing Co. and featured various craft beer brewers as well as many local musicians and food vendors.

Selfishly I wish they'd move this to a different weekend since Father's Day I'm usually out of town, but looking forward to the organizers making strides to better the event from last year.

Ticket prices/packages for Boulevardia announced: http://boulevardia.com/tickets/

The only one that's relevant to my Boulvardia interests is that there will be a VIP entry for Taps & Tastes this year...for $100.

Boulevardia tickets went on sale at 10.

Taps & Tastes VIP (300 tickets) sold out around 10:02, and "regular" Taps & Tates (1800 tickets) sold out around 10:20.

Went to Boulevardia on Friday around 7 with some friends - it was a nice event and there were TONS of people. That said, I waited in one line to buy a ticket, another for ID wristband, then a line to get, a line for drink tokens, another for beer and a huge line for food. I wouldn't have wanted to do that on Saturday when it was so hot and likely even more crowded. Beer lines moved slow and they kept saying the Wheat and Pale Ale taps were running slow.

Like I said, it was a nice event and the venue was great. BUT they need to open up more streets to accommodate and thin out the crowds. And to spend $15 just for entry, then another $6 per beer and $10 for food it was a little steep for me to spend much time down there and I probably would opt for buying a lot of 6-packs and grilling in the backyard with some friends.

The downside to pay fests is they are barricaded in fencing and feel confining, and it's not something you can just check out. They need to figure out how to make these free (Irish fest, most any pay fest), such as having paid access area for the bands only between/inside buildings and rest is free. Some fests raise concession prices, more sponsors to cover cost but if food prices are already that high... Not sure why most KC fests have admission fee as in most cities, many large fests are free. Lack of enough big sponsors?

I actually think they are doing a great job with the festival. I'm not really a fan of the selected musical acts, but they do have to fork over a lot of money for the stages and talent, the ferris wheel, all of the tents (maker tent, etc.), and rental of all of the tables and chairs. That has to be pretty expensive. I agree that they should expand by a few streets, and I am also very annoyed by token-based beer festivals. It is easier for the organizers because the volunteers require little skill or understanding to repeatedly perform only one function, but line fatigue at a festival is one of the top three reasons why I get annoyed with festivals.

I still think they can improve on the beer experience, but there was some really great festival value if you went to the Duvel area. A lot of those beers are hard to find in the US, and the Euro beers and Ommegang beers included are generally not $6 at a bar. I was there on Friday and Saturday night, and Friday was the only night I had to wait for longer than 10 minutes at the Duvel station (once). By the time I got there on Saturday (8:00ish), there was no wait at all. They did away with special tappings this year, most likely because of the insane commotion for specialty tappings last year, but that did limit the ability to highlight Boulevard's premium offerings. I've not been to taps and tastes, but I still think they should open up some more low-rent version of that for the general public. I think they were afraid of coming off the wrong way, price gouging for smokestack beers, but it would have been nice to get an $8 option for things like Saison Brett/Love Child/Imperial Stout.

bobbyhawks wrote:I actually think they are doing a great job with the festival. I'm not really a fan of the selected musical acts, but they do have to fork over a lot of money for the stages and talent, the ferris wheel, all of the tents (maker tent, etc.), and rental of all of the tables and chairs. That has to be pretty expensive. I agree that they should expand by a few streets, and I am also very annoyed by token-based beer festivals. It is easier for the organizers because the volunteers require little skill or understanding to repeatedly perform only one function, but line fatigue at a festival is one of the top three reasons why I get annoyed with festivals.

You make a great point - more goes into something like this than most realize. But, on the other hand, they're selling their own beer for $6 a draw. Seems like they could throw in a couple of drink tickets with the price of admission - or just drop the admission altogether. I'm guessing they would make up the difference in beer sales by dropping the admission and increasing attendance. Or, make beer cheaper. Why can I get a decent-sized draw of Blvd. at Knuckleheads for $3, but when the actual brewery invites me to an invent - it's twice the price?

I just can't get past it.

kcjak wrote:And to spend $15 just for entry...

3 stages of music were included in that price.

If you're complaining about long lines, why would you want the event to be free? Won't that just significantly exacerbate the problem?

TheBigChuckbowski wrote:If you're complaining about long lines, why would you want the event to be free? Won't that just significantly exacerbate the problem?

My thoughts too. There's a beer fest in the River Market coming up that is free entry, this is a deterrent for my attendance. Just screams long lines, expensive beer I can get for less money at most bars I frequent, and running out of beer due to crowd size. I prefer beer fests that sell out and make an effort on limiting the attendance to what they can handle.

DaveKCMO wrote: 3 stages of music were included in that price.

Perhaps a branding issue? "Boulevadia" put on by Boulevard Brewing Co. makes me think it's a beer fest when it could just as easily be marketed as a music fest. $15 for a music fest with 3 stages of music is very reasonable.

It's their beer - the can't run out. And they have practically no limit on the number of kegs and serving stations they can have.

This could be managed better and (gasp!) clear less of a profit. They go on and on and on about elevating the food, music and festival experience and then charge $6 for a beer that costs them pennies. Seems like every other festival ever. Which is fine.

Boulevardia moving (sort of)

"The two-day urban street festival is scheduled to take place June 16th and 17th in Kansas City’s Stockyards District which is the area surrounding the Livestock Exchange Building."

Not really as cool of a location, but probably much easier for the organizers and folks coming/going.

I agree, the viaduct gave it some gravitas, but I'm cool with changing it up.

On Genessee or behind the Exchange?

grovester wrote:Boulevardia moving (sort of)

"The two-day urban street festival is scheduled to take place June 16th and 17th in Kansas City’s Stockyards District which is the area surrounding the Livestock Exchange Building."

The original location so much better, with a lot of character. They may as well move to Xroads or City Market.

Boulevardia is announcing their new location for next year. Based on the teaser video today it looks like it is somewhere along the streetcar line. My guess is RM.

Also, I wasn't sure where to discuss this, so maybe we want to rename the thread again to just 'Boulevardia'.

I was wondering why the streetcar tweeted about being excited about the event.