A major craft beer and cider festival is kicking off in Chatham tonight.
Organizers of the first-ever "Flights and Flasks" CK Craft Beer and Cider Festival are hoping to connect farmers with both brewers and consumers.
"We have all the fruits and vegetables and ingredients growing right here in Chatham-Kent, so we should get in on a piece of the action," says spokesperson Alysson Storey. "I think we have a really strong role to play in products like craft beers and ciders -- businesses are always looking to increase their local content."
Part of the festival includes a Rural Economic Development Summit that will allow brewmasters and cidermasters to speak directly with the farmers who are growing the ingredients they need.
"We just want to get everyone in the same room," says Storey. "We're hoping to start making the connections to ideally solve the problems together of how to get more local ingredients into their products."
The festival starts at 7pm at The Kent 1874 on William St. S in Chatham. Tickets are $40 at the door and cover the cost of a commemorative souvenir glass and ten sample tokens you can use once you are inside.
