Like many of the thousands of people who geared up for a Summer day on Governor’s Island, I too hoped to partake of what seemed might be the ultimate “must go to” beer event of the year according to the advertisements. Over 100 breweries they told us would be available for us to taste the newest and best beers from all over the country. Great food, non-stop musical entertainment, convenient transportation by Water Taxi, it just seemed it would be a magical event. Unfortunately we were all duped. The event already being described by others online and in other medium forums, seems to show a consensus that it was designed to lure us in, take our $55 tickets plus handling fees and taxes and not deliver. Like immigrants coming to Ellis Island, many of us came from all over and waded into a crowd of thousands by Water Taxis waiting to be wisked away to Governor’s Island where the event was being held. This was the first part of confusion as the volunteer staff was unprepared for the oncoming crowd nor did the organization seem ready to accommodate people on to the Water Taxis. Soon four Water Taxis after an hour of waiting were full of thousands of people queued up to deliver passengers to the island. At this point already people were tired after waiting for a boat ride. Now beer attendants were dropped off on the island and informed they would have to wake a long cobblestone walk to the event which was not nearby from the docks. After slugging it out on the route to the entrance, already people were becoming anxious. The anxiety would be even worse as the thousands of people were halted at the entrance. Now people were packed in like sardines waiting for over another hour in the hot sun to get into the event.
At this point consider that people were thirsty, hunger and tired. Many people had shown up at the Water Taxis around 3:00 P.M. since general admission was 3:30 P.M. for the event. Upon entrance into the event, it was clear how ridiculous the event would be. Each brewery had on average, just two beers and only one setup with two taps going for each line. Each brewery had lines of people 40-50 people deep, no organized lines which resulted in lines merging and cutting one another and causing confusion.
In terms of food, forget it, the line was not moving for more than an hour. Bands, there was one band that played crap music and then all music came to a halt.
Many people realized it was taking over 30 minutes just to get one “4 oz” beer. Many people ended up waiting for 4 beers then deciding it was time to wave the white flag and leave.
Now, I’ve been to many beer festivals and events. I understand waiting to try a beer. But from a logistical/command & command control perspective, the event was not designed to accommodate 10,000 people seeking to just simply try a wide variety of beers. No planning was put into how the amount of people would cause various problems with the movement of people. A competent planning organization would have been able to handle this event.
A tell tale sign of the guilty of the parties involved in putting this event together, is how the removal of any blog/comment sections of the webpages on the social networking sites promoting this event.
The most fun of the day I think was the camaraderie of people leaving the event early. Being tired and frustrated, many people on the return boats complained together and made plans to enjoy the rest of the day at bars throughout the city. Many of us ended up telling our tales at local bars with wide varieties of beers to make up for the disappointment.
In the aftermath, its amazing how many people are creating similar postings, reviews and complaints. We are unified in the feeling that we were ripped off and demand satisfaction.
I urge all of you to seek a refund for this event to spread the word to avoid this event like the plague next year.
As for me, I’m looking forward to hitting up the North Fork Beer Festival in August on the North Fork of Long Island at the Martha Clara Winery.
Edward Maggio
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