It could be argued that the invention of beer has been responsible for AC/DC, the mullet, unemployment, white dudes dancing and mud riding, but also quantum physics, the super collider, and V-2 rockets as well as an assortment of other innovations. One of the world’s oldest and most popular prepared beverages — coming in third behind water and tea — beer dates back to 9000 BC, way before the ancient Egyptians clocked out after a hard day’s work on the Giza Pyramid. Nowadays, brewing is a massive industry, comprising several major companies and thousands of smaller specialty brewers in towns across the globe that fetishize each and every hop, malted barley, and ingredient involved in the process.
Presented by Acadiana Center for the Arts, GulfBrew returns to Parc International for another summer gathering of swigging, sipping, tipping, and tasting. GulfBrew is Lafayette’s premier, not-too-high-falutin’ festival where the focus is not on entertainment but the beer itself. Cut to the chase, I suppose. Last year’s GulfBrew was huge: more than 1,500 people attended with taster tickets in hand. The 2009 Gulf Brew, scheduled for July 25, is expected to easily exceed that number.
Bigger and better seems to be the modus operandi with each successive GulfBrew. “We’re featuring 91 exotic brews as opposed to 80 last year,” says Jesse Guidry, marketing director for the event. “We’ve increased the tent size, the number of tents, the tickets sold, added a beer garden where people can relax.” For those who fear the mountain-pounding power and heat of the sun, let it be known that there will be air-conditioned tents, an increasingly common luxury component to any festival occurring in mid-summer in Louisiana.
Brewers include major venders like Schilling, Crescent Crown, and Glazer as well as tasty home brewers like Dead Yeast Society and Bayou Teche Brewery. Live music will be provided by Vagabond Swing, Corey Ledet and Snarky Puppy from 3-8:30 p.m.
Taste tickets are $25 each, and the event is strictly 21 and over. “Last year we had a line around the block,” says Guidry. “I encourage people to buy their tickets in advance, either online or over the phone so that they can avoid the wait.”
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
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