HAMPTON—The Second Annual FML Festival at Oozlefinch Beers & Blending will be held on November 20 from noon to 6pm at the brewery’s facility waterfront property at historic Fort Monroe. The festival will feature 20 “exclusive and elusive” breweries from across the United States, a live band and special guests, and in-person social media influencer talks.
Featured breweries will include 450 North, Almanac Beer Company, Barrel Culture, Company Values, Cushwa Brewing Company, Dancing Gnome, Deciduous Brewing Company, Dewey Beer Company, Ellipsis Brewing, Fourscore Brewing Company, Froth Brewing Company, Great Notion Brewing, Humble Sea Brewing Company, Idiom Brewing Company, Imprint Beer Company, Ingenious Brewing, Juicy Brewing Company, Mast Landing Brewing Company, Moonraker Brewing Company, Ology Brewing Company, and Oozlefinch Beers & Blending.
The festival started last year as a virtual event. “When covid first happened last year, my team and I came together to try and figure out a way to keep the business going, but also to give people some hope and something fun to look forward to while they are all quarantined in their home,” said Oozlefinch founder and owner Russel Tinsley. “So, we started looking into what states offer licensing for direct shipment to consumers. We found, I think, 11 states that allowed us to do it, which led to a conversation with ABC about the license that I hold and what we are allowed to do with that, which led to the idea of, ‘Let’s hold a festival and buy a bunch of beer from a lot of our friends across the country—breweries that people are really excited about and that have great reputations,’ then bring all of that beer here and ship it out in a box to folks with some other exclusive items, as well as planning an online festival that folks could log into and view from home.” Approximately 1,200 people bought boxes from across the country to show support for the festival.
This year, the festival will focus more on the live event, although approximately 200 boxes will be available for people who can’t make it but still want to “attend” virtually.
“Our goal this year is to invite some more of those same breweries people were excited about during covid, and some of the social media influencers that got people through that kind of crazy hard time, and bring them out for this physical fest,” said Tinsley. “We really want to keep the focus more on the breweries and the influencers that will be here to interact, have fun, and drink some beer with some folks. That’s kind of what it is.”
Festival passes can be purchased online and include:
– All-Access VIP Pass, $80 per person (very limited number). The pass includes early access to the event two hours before the general public, exclusive taproom pours that are different from the festival tent pours, access to brewers’ and influences’ private ratings and talks, VIP swag bag, heated VIP seating inside the brewery, private indoor restroom access, exclusive beer releases.
– Beer Buddy Pass, $60 per person. Includes one-hour early access and a festival party pack.
– Good Time Pass, $40 per person. Provides a general admission pass to the featured breweries.
Virtual boxes can be purchased here. Some shipping restrictions may apply.