These Festivals Are Hopping

In 2009, Vincenzo Giammanco had a pretty good gig in a three-person comedy team on the morning show at KHAY-FM (100.7), the Ventura country music radio station. But when the economy turned south, the station couldn’t afford three announcers and fired him. So the former film student managed to wrangle a $40,000 loan that he used to start his dream: A high-class beer festival. Today, Giammanco, 30, runs California Beer Festival LLC. The company, with headquarters in Burbank and offices in Ventura, has a portfolio of 10 local events stretching from Marin County north of San Francisco to San Dimas in the San Gabriel Valley, with most carrying a beer theme. The launch was well-timed as the craft beer movement gained momentum. Giammanco markets the events as gourmet taste tests, where attendees walk booth to booth to sip brews. “We go after the 30-to-54-year-old demographic, people who are college-educated and have kids, who come to sample new beers and educate their palate,” he said. The company’s business model keeps out the folks looking to get buzzed on the cheap. Daily entrance fees are in the $50 range. On the other hand, the craft brewers don’t pay anything for a booth. The company also sells sponsorship packages to brands eager to reach upscale consumers, including Thor Industries, the maker of Airstream trailers, Whole Foods Market Inc. and Eureka Restaurants, a growing Berkeley-based chain of beer pubs. Kevin Clerici, executive director of the Downtown Ventura Partners Business Improvement District, said most of the 12,000 attendees at the California Beer Festival Ventura come from out-of-town, bringing fresh foot traffic to the market. “Vincenzo and his company have directly and indirectly pumped thousands of dollars into our community,” Clerici said. Giammanco isn’t the only entrepreneur to ride the craft beer current. California will host 12 brew-fests during May, not including the national American Craft Beer Week, May 11 to 17, according to the website BeerFestivals.org, Giammanco’s five-employee company also has suffered missteps. When the festival launched in Marin County, only 300 people showed up instead of the expected 3,000. “We lost $60,000 in one day,” he recalled. “That was an eye opener, but I felt like something was there. I hired a new publicist and got 2,500 people, still lost a bit of money, and then broke even at 3,500. That’s how you keep the brand alive.” This year, Giammanco will launch three fresh-brewed events in Silicon Valley, Huntington Beach and San Diego. He noted the festivals have developed a groupie following, with people traveling to attend multiple sessions around the state. They’ve even printed up T-shirts featuring Burt the Bear, the festivals’ mascot. “They refer to us as the Disneyland of beer festivals,” he said. – Joel Russell