Corks & Kegs festival will bring craft beers, entertainment to the Meadows
Observer-Reporter
Festivalgoers line up during the 2019 Corks and Kegs Festival in 2019.
Observer-Reporter
The Observer-Reporter‘s Corks & Kegs Craft Beer Festival returns to The Meadows Racetrack & Casino this weekend.
After a one-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Corks & Kegs Festival is returning to The Meadows Racetrack & Casino in North Strabane this Saturday and Sunday.
A celebration of the local craft beer and wine scene, the festival will have vendors from the region and elsewhere offering samples of their products, along with food, entertainment, a classic car show, shopping and more. Over two days, there will be 65 breweries on hand, 18 food trucks, 11 wineries and distilleries and 25 vendors.
An Observer-Reporter event, this will be the sixth Corks & Kegs Festival since 2015. Carole DeAngelo, advertising director of the Observer-Reporter, said it has been put together to make sure there are plenty of vendors, but to also make sure visitors will be safe since the pandemic is not yet behind us.
“I really feel excited that there will be such a good selection of food trucks, wineries, craft breweries and shopping,” she said.
Coinciding with Corks & Kegs Festival is the opening of the Embers Lounge, The Meadows’ outdoor lounge located on the apron of the casino’s racetrack. It will be unveiled Saturday evening, and Fabio Viviani, a celebrity chef, will be doing a demonstration to mark the opening of the lounge.
For those interested in doing some shopping, gift merchants and representatives from boutiques will be at the festival offering clothing, shoes, accessories and more. Musical entertainment over the weekend will include AC/DC and Tim McGraw tribute acts, and the regional acts Ruff Creek and the Jason Kendall Band. One of the best parts about Corks & Kegs is that there is a variety of things to do “no matter what you are there for,” DeAngelo said.
The festival is happening one month after the Greater Pittsburgh Food Truck Festival was at The Meadows. Another O-R event, DeAngelo said the decision to go ahead with both festivals “wasn’t a decision that we took lightly,” but, in the end, “we feel we made the right decision, and the community has spoken and they want these events back.”
Admission is free, though tickets are required to sample beers. Hours are 12 to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.
Corks & Kegs Festival is sponsored by South Hills Lincoln. For additional information, visit the festival’s Facebook page or www.corksandkegsfestival.com.