Jethawks Stadium Becomes A Field Of Dreams For Southern California #BeerLovers In Lancaster, CA
There is a real-life Field Of Dreams, and it’s not in a cornfield somewhere in Iowa.
It’s a little west of there, kind of near Hollywood in fact, in the space town of Lancaster, CA.
And while it’s almost like a dream, it’s most certainly reality, and it’s a dream come true for craft beer lovers.
It’s an event called Field Of Drafts, and it’s a craft beer festival featuring 40 California craft breweries, bands (LA’s fun 80s party band The Spazmatics played in 2017, held on Saturday, Nov. 4) and the most creative games you’ll ever find anywhere.
And it’s held in a baseball stadium, the home field of the Lancaster Jethawks, the Class A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. You are playing games in the infield and the breweries are lined up all along the warning track in the outfield.
The event is exceptionally well run, the beer choices are plentiful, the venue is clean and classy and the people are smiling and happy the entire time. If you’re keeping score, this is one of the finest beer festivals in Southern California. And Southern California has a lot of beer festivals.
I had all kinds of beer, too numerous to count, really, ranging from basic blondes and lagers to a bourbon beer. Like IPAs and pale ales? Just about every tent pours one of those styles, along with some thick porters and even a coffee porter.
The event brings out a few thousand people, primarily from the Lancaster and Palmdale area, tho I did run into a group from Colorado. I asked them if they liked the beers.
“Absolutely,” they said in unison. “Just about every single one of them.”
They were quite happy by the time I reached them, as were the group wearing Dr. Seuss t-shirts saying “Drunk 1,” Drunk 2,” Drunk 3,” and so forth.
This is such a fun and entertaining event it’s hard not to be smiling, laughing and having a great time. There’s plenty of room so you’re never crowded and while there are long lines at nearly every beer station – as long 30-deep at some – you never feel as if you really need to be someplace else.
You can see everything happening around you and when you get tired, just take a seat in the stands as if you you were at a Jethawks game.
I do highly recommend getting the VIP. For starters, you can get a beer in about 10 seconds as opposed to several minutes. The servers also fill up the festival’s souvenir glass, whereas in the GA section the standard pour is about 3/4 full. Plus, there’s food (small sausages, Cuban sandwiches, chicken tenders) and you get a really cool baseball-style t-shirt.
The venue is great and provides a critical differential between other Southern California beer festivals, and that is the venue and the games. While being an hour-plus from L.A., you can take up a party bus with a group and have one heck of an afternoon. Either that or stay at one of the hotels directly across from the festival, such as the Homewood Suites.
The stadium is outfitted somewhat like the “Field Of Dreams” movie. There’s even cornstalks and bales of hay.
And the creative games only add to the fun. There’s a real goal post where you can kick 25-yard field goals. There’s Twister, with the colored dots spray-painted onto the infield grass. There’s a pool table of sorts on the ground with large balls which you “kick” into the pockets, kind of like soccer pool. And putt-putt golf (I made a hole-in-one, first try with a beer in hand!)
But best of all, there’s human foosball. That’s right, human foosball. With a bunch of craft beers and a band playing on a nearby stage, what could be more fun than that, right?
So I’ll see you there next year.
Cheers!
Tickets Prices: $45, VIP $65
Event Website & Tickets: www.fieldofdrafts.com
Event Hours: 1-5 p.m.; Noon for VIP
Location: The Hangar – Lancaster Municipal Stadium, Lancaster, CA
Address: 45116 Valley Central Way, Lancaster, CA
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