SoWa Returns This Spring with Saturday Hours
Photo by Sarah Fisher
Fun-day isn’t relegated to Sundays this spring. The SoWa Open Market kicks off its 14th season later this month, and the popular Sunday hang is expanding its weekly hours to Saturdays, too. On the first SoWa Saturday, April 29, the Massachusetts Brewers Guild is bringing more than 60 Bay State breweries together for a beer fest at the complex’s Power Station.
The Power Beer Fest will be the largest concentration of Massachusetts breweries under one roof, ever, says Katie Stinchon, executive director of the Massachusetts Brewers Guild. The two-session festival will feature the likes of Aeronaut, Brazo Fuerte, Cold Harbor Brewing, Devil’s Purse, Exhibit ‘A,’ Medford Brewing, Salt Box Kitchen, Spencer Trappist Brewery, Start Line, and many more. Check out the lineup on Facebook.
Ticket sales support the non-profit guild, which protects and promotes the interests of craft brewers throughout the state. It’s their first-ever festival, and will specifically raise funds to create educational and marketing programs for local breweries, and also support its legislative efforts, Stinchon says. Did we mention there will be a ton of beer?
The inaugural Saturday isn’t the only opportunity for booze at SoWa. Again this year, the marketplace spans three blocks along Harrison Avenue and Thayer Street, and will have a weekly Beer Garden alongside the Food Truck Bazaar. Courtesy of Eat Boston, expect to see a rotating selection of craft beers at SoWa throughout the season.
The market also has more than 100, curated artist vendors hawking handmade jewelry, art, clothing, home goods, and more in the lot at 450 Harrison Ave., as well as a vintage market. Plus, more than 50 farmers, bakers, and other food vendors are set up at 500 Harrison Ave. The location is tucked within the South End artist community, with studios, galleries, boutiques, and more to check out while you’re in the area.
For the first time this year, SoWa has its own booth with T-shirts, tote bags, and other swag, with all of those proceeds going to different, local charities throughout the season.
Says Julie Burros, chief of arts and culture for the City of Boston, in a press release: “Arts, culture and creativity are part of the DNA of our great city and the SoWa Arts & Design District and Open Market are a vital element of our cultural infrastructure.”
See you in the South End.
Power Beer Fest, $55, Saturday, April 29, 1-4:30 p.m. and 6-9:30 p.m., SoWa Power Station, 540 Harrison Ave., Eventbrite.
SoWa Open Market, begins Saturday, April 29, continues every Saturday and Sunday through October, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., SoWa Boston, 450 Harrison Ave. South End, sowaboston.com.
A 2016 Mass. Brewers Guild festival. / Photo by Fest Pics by Mike Johnson
