Organizers prepare for Ocoee Fest

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Live music, a beer brewing competition, slackline contests and white water rafting trips can only mean one thing—Ocoee Fest. 

Last year was the year’s first event and organizers called that a success and they are in the midst of planning this year’s event, which is scheduled for Labor Day weekend on Aug. 30 and 31.

“The homebrewing competition is the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of,” said Will Oliver, marketing manager for BBB Paddling, which organizes the event. “It’s not like any other competition.”

Applications are open for the competition, which involves entering a 5-gallon batch of home brew, he also said.

Last year there were 30 entries and 700 people who came out to the weekend event, Oliver said. 

The event started as an end-of-the-season party for rafting company Adventures Unlimited, but all the rafting companies and raft guides in the area ended up showing up, Oliver said.

There will be giveaways and disc golf, and a writer with Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine is making a stop at the event.

The writer is doing a year tour of the country in a camper and writing about the experience, Oliver said.

There will be a craft beer tasting event and several different bands, some of which are from Chattanooga, such as Behold the Brave and Eight Knives.

And Oliver said he thinks the event gives a boost to the local economy, and that overall the event is a celebration.

“It makes for a really fun event,” he said. “There’s a really awesome vibe that’s going on with music in the background, festival tents, samplings of a bunch of different beers and there are cash prizes for the brewers this year.”