The Ultimate Excuse to Enjoy a Beer: National Beer Day 2011

Today we celebrate a great day in American history: National Beer Day. 78 years ago on this day the ban on alcohol sales known as Prohibition was lifted. People waited in lines on April 6 until midnight when they could legally buy beer for the first time in 13 years. Today is a day to honor those men and women who fought hard for our right to enjoy an ice cold beer. Image courtesy of Beer Advocate.

Can you even imagine what a world without beer would be like? None of these upcoming events would have been possible!

The East Nashville Beer Festival
April 9 in Nashville, Tenn.
Takes place at the East Bank Greenway and the festival will play host to 35-40 craft breweries.

SOLD OUT! More info HERE.

Stoudts’ Battle of the Brewery Bands
April 30 in Adamstown, Penn.
Brewery bands compete for the Golden Keg and the charity of their choice with delicious food and drinks by Stoudts Brewery.

American Craft Beer Fest
June 3 and 4 in Boston, Mass.
The East Coast’s largest craft beer festival. The festival features over 100 different breweries and 400 different beers. There are a total of three sessions.

2nd Annual Boulder SourFest
June 11 in Boulder, Colo.
If you enjoy the taste of sour beer then this festival is for you. The second installment of this festival will feature 80 different sours for you to taste.

SOLD OUT! More info HERE.

20th Annual Microfest at Stoudts Brewery
June 11, August 27 and October 15 in Adamstown, Penn.
Three different dates to check out this great annual beer festival put on by Stoudts. Great beer sampling, food and entertainment.

2011 Modern Drummer Festival Provides Diverse Line-Up

The Modern Drummer Festival is regarded as one of the top drumming events in the world. The event brings together world-renowned drummers for clinics, live performances with fellow musicians and other hands-on activities for attendees. The festival will be taking place on May 21 at The Memorial Auditorium on the campus of Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey.

The 24th installment this year might be the most diverse line-up the festival has ever seen. There will representations of blues, funk, metal, hip-hop and Latin drumming styles. The biggest draw for the event is sure to be Grammy Award-winning drummer Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez. Like previous Modern Drummer Festivals, attendees will be able to participate in “drum circles” outside the auditorium. The festival also coincides with the 35th anniversary for Modern Drummer Magazine.

Win a Pair of VIP Tickets to The Atlanta Winter Wine + Jazz Festival!

We’re excited to announce that we are now selling tickets for the Atlanta Winter Wine + Jazz Festival. Taking place Sunday, February 20 at the Georgia Freight Depot in downtown Atlanta, the festival lets participants experience and learn about great wine with tastings and seminars for VIPs. The experience will be enhanced by some great food, fantastic live jazz tunes, an indoor street market, prizes and more!

The VIP experience will be enhanced with early admission, wine seminars, special door prizes and giveaways.

To celebrate the announcement of this latest event, we have a pair of VIP tickets to give away to one lucky winner. Enter to win the competition by filling out the form below, or buy tickets at the button below for a sure thing.

Steamhouse Lounge Oysterfest Just Announced!

It’s that time of year again! The Steamhouse Lounge in Atlanta’s midtown welcome’s back its famous Oysterfest for another year on February 26 and 27. This year is going to be bigger than ever, with express lines for those who bought their tickets in advance – so buy yours now! And of course there will be the usual buckets of fresh roasted oysters, the restaurant’s legendary lobster bisque, drinks galore and live music from The Best Brothers, The Georgia Satellites and more.

The Auslander Announces Spring Music Fest Shows! UPDATED

The Auslander in Fredericksburg has just announced their lineup for their Spring Music Fest series in March! Here’s the shows we have listed:

Walt Wilkins and The Mystiqueros, Saturday, March 19

Monte Montgomery, Friday, March 11

This show has been canceled.

Joe Ely, Saturday, March 12

Jimmy LaFave, Sunday, March 13

Mike McClure Band, Monday, March 14

Slaid Cleaves, Tuesday, March 15

Max Stalling, Wednesday, March 16

Cory Morrow, Thursday, March 17

Two Tons of Steel, Friday, March 18

So buy your tickets, grab a beer and a meal, and enjoy the show!

The Daily Meal Interviews Atlanta Food & Wine Festival Founders

Fabulous foodie website The Daily Meal had an insightful interview with Atlanta Food & Wine Festival co-founders Dominique Love and Elizabeth Feichter. Here’s a quick snippet:

If forced to choose, what would be the three events to look out for?

ICHSA Finals Just Announced! – UPDATE: More ICHSA and ICCA Finals Announced!

Varsity Vocals, the group that oversees the a cappella competitions of the ICHSA (International Championship of High School A Cappella), are steadily announcing the dates for the ICHSA finals. With all the attention hit TV show Glee has been getting this year, we’re sure these events are going to be selling as fast as ever, so get your tickets and get ready to cheer on your alma mater!

Stay tuned to Ticket Alternative for any updates!

ICHSA New England Semifinal at Marblehead
Marblehead Veterans Middle School
Marblehead, MA

Saturday, February 12

Featuring:
The 18 Wheelers – The Wheeler School, Providence, RI
The Jewel Tones – Marblehead High School, Marblehead, MA
Luminescence – Marblehead High School, Marblehead, MA
Strawberry Fields – Bristol Eastern High School, Bristol, CT
A La Mode – Bristol Eastern High School, Bristol, CT
Voices of Steel – Wakefield High School, Wakefield, MA
WitchPitch? – Salem High School, Salem, MA

ICHSA Quarterfinal 2: Rutgers University
Hickman Hall
New Brunswick, NJ

Saturday, February 12

Featuring:
The Class Notes Cornell University
The Deaftones Westminster Choir College
Deep Treble Rutgers University
Melismatics Lehigh University
Midnight Ramblers Rochester University
Phalanx Elizabethtown College
The Pitches SUNY Potsdam
Stockapella Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Vocalmotion Rider University

UPDATE: We have now added more ICHSA finals as well as ICCA finals. Tickets are on sale now! Full details below… … Continue Reading

Avery Brewing Company Hosts 9th Annual Boulder Strong Ale Festival, February 2011 – On Sale January 3!

In the bleakness of February, when the winter turns especially bitter, we all need something a bit stronger to rouse us. Hence Avery Brewing Company‘s choice to move the Annual Boulder Strong Ale Festival back to February, when beer lovers can truly appreciate a strong ale. Last year’s event featured nearly 80 different strong ales over eight percent ABV, and 2011′s festival promises to have even more for 2011. So far, Avery has Allagash (ME), Avery (CO), Cambridge (MA), Deschutes (OR), Dogfish Head (DE), Moylans (CA), Ommegang (NY), Oskar Blues (CO), Pizza Port (CA), Pumphouse (CO), Redstone Meadery (CO), The Bruery (CA), Trinity Brewing (CO), Victory Brewing (PA) and more on the list, but they hope to have over 50 breweries at the event.

Attendees will have 16 two-ounce tasting tickets and a commemorative festival tasting glass, as well as the chance to chat with the brewers and creators of the beers who will be there mingling with the beer fans.

There will be two tasting sessions, one on Friday at 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and the second on Saturday at 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets go on sale January 3 at 8 a.m.

Winter Beer Carnival Returns to Atlanta for Second Year!

Atlanta really is turning into one of the best food and drink cities in the nation. Not only do we now have a Food & Wine Festival starting up in May, but we have another great beer festival filling the drinking-occasion hole in February. The Winter Beer Carnival made its debut last year, and was a huge, sell-out hit. And for the 2011 return on February 19, the festival organizers are promising more incredible beers, more games, more music, more food and more fun!

Tickets are on sale now – buy yours soon before they’re all gone!

Buy Your Tickets for The Atlanta Food & Wine Festival Now!

UPDATE: The Scoutmob offer is now over, but tickets are still available!

Over here at Ticket Alternative, we’ve been hard at work on a very special event: The inaugural Atlanta Food and Wine Festival! The mammoth, long weekend in May will bring together top chefs, culinary experts, growers, sommeliers and more from around the region to showcase the best that the Southeast has to offer. Folks from JCT Kitchen, Blackberry Farm, Fifth Group, Community Q BBQ, Holeman & Finch, Bacchanalia, Miller Union and more, as well as famed locals like Kevin Gillespie and Shaun Doty, will be be showcasing their talents, discussing the favorite meals, leading tastings and much more. You can view all the events in the festival schedule. It’s certainly going to be a foodie’s dream – and an Atlanta food fan’s experience of a lifetime!

Tickets are on sale now, but as a special treat, Food & Wine has teamed up with Scoutmob to get you 20 percent off one of the Saturday Tasting Tents. Just enter the code “scoutmob” into the code box to get your savings. But act fast! This code only lasts until Sunday, December 19.

Use the code at the website linked to here:

Or buy any other tickets or packages at the website linked to here: