It’s a good morning when we can serve delicious news straight from the source. The next big OC Weekly event is right around the corner, and our preliminary list of featured food and drink has got us excited! Where should we begin?
Ah yes, the date. Block your calendar for Saturday, June 17. Summer Fest kicks off at 1 p.m. over at good ‘ol Newport Dunes. Since downing fluids is so important when you party outdoors, we’ll share those details first. Our exclusive drink sponsors include the likes of both Stella Artois and Stella Artois Cidre, Coffee For 2, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Juice It Up! and Calafia Farms. The all-important Hydration Station will be presented by Essentia Water. Look out for those bottles and get your electrolyte fix!
Our next collection of name-dropping ups the ante on beverages. We’re talking garden-to-bar goodness by a handful of local bars, all participating in our In The Shrubs cocktail competition. The catch: you need to roll VIP for these tastes. We welcome The Blind Rabbit, Mesa, Woody’s Wharf, Hammer Bar and Recess. VIP attendees will not only taste, but vote for the winning drink made with Tito’s Handmade Vodka and their choice of botanical blends. If it’s wine you seek, they’ll be pouring Jardesca vino and botanical drinks in there, too.
The eats list is growing (as in daily email updates), but we are allowed to share some of what will be offered. The Pink Taco luxe lonchera will be visiting from LA, as well as OC local Slidebar with their Gringo Bandito. They’ll be cooking up $5 food specials, in addition to their tasty menus for sale. For the biggest selection, you’ll need to throw down a little extra cash to enter our Farm to Table Tasting Tent.
While many will attend for the bands, we know your eyes are on our final lineup. To be honest— we’d be pleased as punch with this list alone. For your VIP pleasure, experience tastes from True Food Kitchen, Juliette Kitchen and Bar, SideDoor, Fresh Brothers, Restauration, Butterleaf, Three Seventy Common Kitchen + Drink, Mesa, Active Culture Cafe and Babette’s Newport Beach. Expect more entries as soon as we’re given the green light to update you.
For more information and to purchase Summer Fest tickets, check out the website at this link.
A contributing writer for OC Weekly, Anne Marie freelances for multiple online and print publications, and guest judges for culinary competitions. A Bay Area transplant, she graduated with a degree in Hospitality Management from Cal Poly Pomona. Find her on Instagram as brekkiefan.