Visitors playing cornhole between shots of bourbon at the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival in Tysons Saturday. Photo by Reena Singh.
A traveling festival new to Tysons Corner brought people into the urban center from all over the region.
The Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival broke new records for Tysons’ festivals this year, attracting more than 4,000 visitors to the new Lerner Town Center on Saturday.
“Life in Tysons is evolving in a very exciting way: more fun activities, more beautiful architecture, more new visitors arriving on the Metro -- it's a delightful new era for this community,” said Tysons Partnership Executive Director Michael Caplin.
He said that an informal poll at the festival showed that 20 percent of the visitors used the Tysons Corner Metro Station across the street from the festival site and 40 percent of them had never been to Tysons before.
Mark Hill, Fairfax, had been going to other Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festivals in the area before this year.
“I think it’s similar to the one that was in Reston last year,” he said. “But I think this one is better.”
Many of the beer and bourbon vendors were under white top tents, ranging from Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam to Ommegang and Starr Hill. Visitors received a souvenir glass for unlimited tastings for the price of the entry fee and barbecued meat for an additional fee.
Seminars with brewmasters and distilleries throughout the nation took place throughout the day under the blazing sun as live blues and bluegrass music blasted from the stage.
Many people milled between the alcohol vendors and the stage, with some people resting on hill on the side of the town square to talk to friends.
Like Hill, Joe Greenwood from Fairfax had been to several other of the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festivals.
“Beer, Bourbon and BBQ is synonymous with the Commonwealth,” he said.
His friend Tom Cuccherini from Fredericksburg said the Tysons event was the best one he’s been to so far.
“Having this so close to the Silver Line was amazing,” said Kyle Schumacher, Arlington. “It was by far the easiest Beer, Bourbon and BBQ to get to.”