Ludlow, VT – Okemo will host the Vermont ski and snowboard resort’s third annual Hops in the Hills Beer Festival and Chicken Wing Championship, from 1-6 p.m., on Saturday, Aug. 6. Jackson Gore will be the setting for enjoying the great outdoors while sampling a variety of beers from local and regional brewers. The Chris Kleeman Band and Sly Geralds will provide live musical accompaniment to the beer tasting and chicken wing chomping. A number of local restaurants will vie for the highly coveted title of Chicken Wing Champion during this event as well.
A fee of $20 will include admission to the Hops in the Hills Beer Festival, a logo pint glass and four tickets for beer samples. Additional beer tickets will be sold at $5 for four samples. Some of the breweries expected to attend include Harpoon, Long Trail, Magic Hat, Otter Creek, Switchback, Sam Adams, Allagash, Saranac and Woodchuck Cider.
Tom’s Loft was the winner of Okemo’s premiere Chicken Wing Championship and this year’s lineup of contenders are The Killarney, Outback Pizza, The Cool Moose Cafe, Tom’s Loft, and Squeels on Wheels BBQ. Wings will be priced at 12 for $10 or five for $5 and wing tasters will determine the champion. The award will be presented at the end of the day.
Okemo Mountain Resort, best known as a winter sports destination resort, has been filling its summer schedule with outdoor adventure, live concerts and festivals.
On Friday nights throughout the summer season, the lawn in the courtyard at Okemo’s Jackson Gore Inn is transformed into an outdoor concert venue featuring popular local and regional entertainers. Admission to the Jackson Gore Outdoor Music Series is free and the grounds open at 5 p.m. Concerts are slated to run from 6 to 9 p.m. Families are welcome and all attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or picnic blankets. In case of rain, the concerts will move indoors. Dining options include traditional fresh-from-the-grill fare, or full-service dining with an al fresco seating option at Jackson Gore’s Coleman Brook Tavern.
Okemo’s ever-evolving Adventure Zone is open to concert-goers with mountain coaster rides, trampoline bungee jumping and disc golf. Miniature golf should be ready for later this summer.
In addition to the Jackson Gore Outdoor Music Series and Hops in the Hills Beer Festival, Okemo will host its annual Parrothead Party with Jimmy Buffett tribute band, Changes in Latitudes, on Oct. 8.