Inaugural King City Craft Beer and Food Truck Festival a big hit

June 18, 2014 · 0 Comments

Erika and Alyssa were kept busy handing out samples of Hockley Beer.

By Mark Pavilons
“King-palooza” or “Kingstock.”
These were terms tossed around by visitors to Saturday’s successful King City Craft Beer & Food Truck Festival.
Good food, great entertainment and great brew combined to create the social event of the summer in King Township.
One of the lead organizers, Councillor Cleve Mortelliti, said he’s feeling pretty good after such a successful event.
Years ago, he envisioned a large-scale community event that brings the entire community together. Such social events also renew old friendships and rekindle fond memories of King City.
“I know that the ambience generated all day Saturday revived that feeling in a lot of people, including myself. I ran into people I haven’t seen in 30 years and had a blast with not only old high school friends, but grade school friends, and the atmosphere was such that even if you’re new to King City, you and your kids will have walked away with a King City memory that will last you a lifetime, memories that will build each year, layer upon layer, and make you feel inexorably tied to this place.”
Mortelliti said if this year’s event made people look forward to next year’s, “then I think we nailed it.”
“Next year it will only get better.”
Estimates are that more than 3,000 visitors took part and an initial 750 tickets were sold online prior to the festival.
Musical entertainment was provided by The Rathburns, Elmer’s Lane, Katie Francis, Ghost Town Orchestra, The Glorious Sons, The Phil and John Show, The Clearing, Micale Vassos Feat. Victor Branco and Joel Krivy.
None of it could have been possible without a lot of selfless efforts.
The King City Lions are consistent supporters – they’ve been generating community spirit for the past 62 years. Through their efforts in year-long fund raising activities they cut another cheque for $10,000 that goes toward the King City Skate Park project. KC Lions were there all day long, assisting King staff and hustling raffle tickets for their annual raffle.
Mortelliti extended a huge thanks to Peter Culberston, who lined up the bands and did all the sound engineering and stage set up. The two-stage setup this year was brilliant and allowed the event to flow much better.
“All this came together with the excellent work of our King Township Parks and Recreation staff led by Chris Fasciano. I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t quite know how to get there. This year, Jon Bell, Amanda Hicks and Emma Isai nailed it by hooking into the marketing power of the Ontario Craft Brewers Association and reeling in nine craft brewers and pairing them with nine gourmet food trucks.
“But of course, none of this could have happened without the support of all our 2014 sponsors including Yelp, the Ontario Craft Brewers Association, R.J. Burnside & Associates, The Jones Consulting Group, The Municipal Infrastructure Group, The Miller Group, Signature Communities, and of course our main stage sponsor, Zancor Homes. And thanks to all of our sponsors dating back to 2011.
“All of these great sponsors recognize the need to build community spirit, and Zancor Homes in particular has played a huge part over the last few years in getting this event off the ground and on its feet to the point where it is now very close to being able to run on its own legs.
“Last but certainly not least, a big thank you goes to Anna Raeli of State Farm Insurance and the whole King City Business and Community Association for putting on their Street Festival concurrently with the Craft Beer Festival. Thank you also to Villanova College for coordinating the bouncy castle and Kids Zone, and thanks to Tom Walker and the KCSS Big Band for kicking off the days events with some great jazz tunes on Keele Street.
“The King City Craft Beer & Food Truck Festival now has the DNA of a sustainable event. As a result, all of King Township’s residents can look forward to enjoying this great event for years to come, because building a sustainable King is what this council is all about,” Mortelliti concluded.