We can’t stop feeling so bad that so many of you wanted to come to SIPtemberfest and weren’t able to get tickets. We wish we could go back in time and have planned a second session for this year, but alas, our time-machine isn’t working so we’re stuck with things as they are: a 300+ person wait-list and plans to add a second session already in the works for 2015.

What’s even worse than letting so many folks down, though, is when we see people selling SIPtemberfest tickets for profit. We don’t mind if you resell tickets at face-value, but we take serious issue with anyone attempting to make a quick buck off of our hard work and someone else’s desire to attend. In a word, it’s LAME. We wish these people horrible beer karma: like warm Bud Light and stale pretzels horrible.

But we also need to caution anyone who might be tempted to buy from these lazy-preneurs: if you purchase tickets from a third party outlet (ie, not Eventbrite) THE BUYER ASSUMES ALL RISK! We cannot guarantee the validity of any off-market purchases so if someone is scamming you, you’re not going to get in at the gate no matter how much you paid! 

So please don’t be lame. If you have extra tickets, return them via Eventbrite so the people who are patiently waiting on our waitlist can get tickets. This will mean the most outstanding beer karma for you, like SIPtemberfest beer and food outstanding!

Just like that, SIPtemberfest 2014 is SOLD OUT! >Poof!<

First and foremost, we would like to issue a huge thank you to everyone for your overwhelming support of our little beer fest! It is humbling to see such mind-blowing demand for tickets and we truly wish we could accommodate you all!

Next, apologies to those of you who missed tickets. We don’t know how on earth it happened that tickets were available earlier than they were supposed to be, though we can surmise based on the length of our waitlist, (over 300 people as of this post,) that even if tickets had gone on sale as planned, there still would be plenty of sad faces today. For the conspiracy theorists in the crowd, please know that this is not an ‘inside job’ or some publicity ploy and no one is secretly benefiting from this. We didn’t lie to anyone about anything. We also have absolutely nothing to do with the wild rumors going around that Beyonce and Jay-Z might break up, though you are all entitled to your own opinions.

We’ve been asked a lot about why we opted to not sell tickets at local businesses this year. It’s not because we don’t want to support the local economy. We aren’t “turning our noses up to the locals” or trying to sell more tickets to out-of-staters. And we haven’t “gone mainstream” nor are we waiting to “collect our cut from scalpers.” As a teeny business ourselves, supporting other small local businesses has always been and still is important. We sold tickets locally in the past as a way to support the wonderful businesses that partnered with us. But this element of planning takes a tre-men-dous amount of time that, frankly, we just don’t have (repeat: we are a teeny business.) Selling tickets online certainly proved to have it’s fair share of time-comsuming, headache-causing glitches today, but all things considered, we are still very pleased with the outcome and have plans in place to continue supporting the businesses we partner with (see below.)

In light of the drastic increased interest in SIPtemberfest, we are already looking into ways to add a session to the 2015 event! It was a crap shoot whether to do this for this year and we bet wrong. We now have an increased appreciation for the pressures felt by unicorn-brewing breweries like Lawson’s, the Alchemist and Tree House; no matter how high we set our expectations, we are continually shocked and honored by the demand for our product. We thought only in our wildest dreams that we would sell out in mere minutes.  So to help us please as many of you as possible, we have compiled a generic beer fest survey for anyone who wants to take it (it’s quick and easy!) Your feedback will help us dial in both SIPtemberfest and all other beer fests our organizers have their hands in.

Speaking of other beer fests, we’d like to shamelessly plug a couple events that our friends at Meg’s Events are putting on. Whether you got tickets to SIPtemberfest or not, these are a couple of new events with plenty of tickets remaining as of this post, but of such quality that they will likely sell out too! Please check them out and get your tickets right away; you won’t regret it and we hate saying ‘we told you so’ – it’s a Win/Win!

• The Brewhaha – Part of the Eat by Northeast, September 19-20, Oakledge Park – This branny-new event is an exciting new collaboration with Meg’s Events, the Higher Ground & Skinny Pancake. At the Brewhaha, enjoy Vermont’s newest and smallest breweries, as well as specialty beers from other regional brewing luminaries. Tickets for the Brewhaha are now on sale! The Brewhaha is a part of Eat by Northeast, which aims to be the premiere fundraiser for Vermont’s local food movement.  The EatxNE is a free, all-ages festival that will celebrate our state’s vibrant culinary tradition through fun gatherings at the peak of our abundant harvest,  incredible live music, offer over 30 free educational seminars for entrepreneurs, families and gardeners on the business, preparation and cultivation of local food, and much more. 
• Hop Jam August 30, Bolton Valley –  This fest will most certainly be different from SIPtemberfest, but at it’s core, this event is an immediate member of the SIPtemberfest Family. The beer line-up is nuts, the music will be amazing, and we’re very confident that you will love this party just much as SIP so be sure to get your tickets asap! Pro Tip: if you’re a beer geek, you’ll want to splurge on the VIP option. Get your tickets here.

For now, the only remaining ways to get tickets will be to volunteer or to try to win them! Both of these options accompany a limited number of tickets! We are partnering up with some area businesses to offer assorted raffle opportunities. We will update you all soon with these options – in the meantime, make sure you’re subscribed to Fresh SIPs so you get our updates emailed directly to you, and check out our How to be a Winner page.

Again, thank you for your support and stay tuned for updates!
Cheers!

Ohmigawd – in only mere days, SIPtemberfest tickets will go on sale!!

In light of how quickly we sold out last year (less than 30 hours,) and how fast some other beer fests sold out this year (as few as 11 minutes,) we would like to prep you for what seems like a probable scenario: SIP tickets will very likely sell out faster than a prom dress comes off at midnight.

So, here’s a little run down for you:

• NEW THIS YEAR: ALL TICKETS WILL BE SOLD ONLINE ONLY! We love our former local retail outfits, but it has been quite challenging to coordinate these sales. We’re a very small team and we’re pretty sure you’d all rather us spend our time working on the beer-end of things rather than the administrative end.  Thanks in advance for understanding!
• You can buy up to 6 tickets per person! Please plan ahead if your entourage is larger than that.
• Tickets go on sale at 7:35am on Monday, August 4. Set your alarm accordingly, pre-set your browser to this link and have your credit card handy so you can maximize your ticket purchasing potential.
• Your call will be answered in the order that it was received. Ya know how if you call your insurance company on the phone and they put you on hold, and if you hang up and redial you’ll go to the end of the line? The same kind of thing could happen when you go online to purchase SIPtemberfest tickets depending the volume. So you might be put ‘on hold’ and it might appear as if nothing is happening. Resist the urge to refresh! Your computer is not frozen, you’re on hold! Pretend elevator music is playing or something and hang tight; refreshing your browser will lessen your likelihood of getting tickets.
• Ticket to Ride New this year you MUST reserve a spot in order to use our Free Shuttle. It goes from Hostel Tevere to SIPtemberfest and back and it’s a sweet deal because we will have our Post Party at Hostel Tevere once again this year!! There will be 6 shuttles that will seat 14 people each and you will need to make your reservation WHEN YOU BUY YOUR TICKET! So caucus with your posse, decide which bus time you want in advance so you can breeze through this option when you buy your tickets. (SIP is from 1-5pm. ) Your Shuttle Options:
  • BUS #1 – 11:45am Pick Up, 4:45 Return
  • BUS #2 – 12:00pm Pick Up, 5:00 Return
  • BUS #3 – 12:15pm Pick Up, 5:15 Return
  • BUS #4 – 12:30pm Pick Up, 5:30 Return
  • BUS #5 – 12:45pm Pick Up, 5:45 Return
  • BUS #6 – 1:00pm Pick Up, 6:00 Return
• In the event that you miss the opportunity to get tickets you will be routed to enter our waitlist. Eventbrite has a snazzy set up that will match you up with anyone who, for whatever crazy reason, needs to return a ticket.
• WINNING! We always love giving away tickets so take advantage of all the opportunities you have to be a winner!! See our How to be a Winner page for more details.
• Still have questions? Please use our contact form and we will do our best to answer your questions as best we can.

Ok – So that’s it for now team. Good luck, live long and prosper.