Kegs and Corks Beer and Wine Festival

SOOO MUCH FUN! I purchased tickets through Living Social. This was the first outing after my BF moved to the area and it was a PERFECT welcome! There was plenty of wine & beer to sample. The lines were a bit long in the «beer garden» but it wasn’t unbearable. People seemed to be enjoying the bands — I wasn’t in ear-​shot for many of the performances. We have been telling everybody to put it on their «must-​do» list! We’ll be back next year :)

I loved the festival as a VIP ticket holder. The food catered by Park Tavern was excellent and the music/​entertainment was so fun to listen to! I will say though, had I not purchased a VIP ticket, the festival would have been miserable. It was incredibly hot and they had little to no areas that non VIP ticket holders could seek for refuge from the heat/​sun. The wine and beer vendors were almost 4 deep at every tent so you would have to fight to taste any of the vendors products. I would recommend choosing a larger venue for the festival and considering selling fewer tickets at a higher price so that more people could enjoy the festival and actually sample the products offered at the festival.

I was given complimentary tickets from a previous Unilocal event, so I excitedly jumped at the opportunity to drink beer and listen to live music.
Nottttt as great as I envisioned.
It’s still a fairly new event, only concluding their fourth year, but they have a huge organization issue on hand. I certainly would not pay money to come back.
Majority of the beer stands were packed tightly into the shaded barn area, which was a great thought! But it didn’t play out as I assume they would have liked. There were no ropes or cones to designate lines, so it was more like a massive mosh pit of thirsty, hungry, sweaty people.
The selection of wineries, breweries and food trucks was great, but I personally would suggest piling the food trucks into the barn and spreading the Booze along the perimeter.

From the perspective of spaciousness of the location and the quality of wineries/​breweries and vendors and concept, I would give it a higher rating. The 3 stars is because of the execution of all of the above.
I know the festival can’t control that there is really only one main entrance into the fairgrounds, however, they could have someone out helping to direct the traffic. You know people aren’t good at taking turns and traffic was seriously backed up in both directions. At least there was plenty of parking and it was free.
I think the biggest piece of advice would be to clearly mark things. You couldn’t ever really tell where you were supposed to go, which entrance to use. I assume there was a groupon or living social for this and there were tents with those names and lines but it wasn’t clear if you could go through those entrances if you had regular tickets.
They had a great selection of food trucks and vendors but no map of all of that. We got sandwiches from Cipriotti’s (?sp) and they were delicious. Made ahead of time but my cheesesteak was piping hot.
The biggest struggle was seeing where to go in the wine tents for the samples. I’m super short and had on flats, I couldn’t tell where was the sale line for bottles and where was the sample line. (and there were both)
The WORST part was the craft beer corral inside the big barn. The set up did not work. There were vendors in the middle which caused the lines to get very confused and it appeared that there was one line to get in and basically work your way around to all the breweries. Evidently, this was not how it was planned but you couldn’t tell where one line started and another stopped. As it was, it worked because the time it took for you to get and drink your first sample gave you time to wait until the line moved to the next tent.
I would suggest that the breweries send more staff and more taps, even if they only send two beers. Some places were very slow and that held up the line. Also the wineries could do with a bigger sample. It was basically a swallows worth of wine. The beer samples were nicely sized. My other suggestion would be to move the winery tents further back off the walk way as that clogged up traffic as well.
I won tickets to this (thanks Park Tavern in Severna Park, shameless plug) but I don’t think I’d pay to attend it again.

Omg! We had a blast! I recommend this event for an and everyone who enjoys great wine, beer, food and music. Everyone from the vendors to security to patrons.
My favorite wine was the blackberry from Gollywobble. So yummy!

Giving two stars only because at the end of day I had fun but only because I make my own fun! Bands always seem good there! I went last year and the weather was Beauiful but this year weather sucked! And if you are gonna have a rain or shine event then you need to be prepared for that! They should of had a big tent with tables & chairs in it! Who wants to buy food at vendors and hold umbrella hold your drink & food and eat in the rain!!! I couldn’t believe no trash cans were barely around none in parking lot! People were leaving trash everywhere! And using last years wine glasses! It was 3^rd Annual and we had 2^nd annual on our free glasses! Really!!! Wine samples this year was a joke! At least at beer stands they gave you a decent sample! I had fun Dancin & being with friends but not sure if I will go next year unless I hear bout some changes! By 3^rd Annual all the kinks should of been figured out!!! I still can’t believe they were using last years glasses! LoL!!!

This event could be so much better if it were better organized. There are no lines for pre-​purchased ticket holders to enter easily and get a bracelet. The wine samples were much smaller this year than last year. They used old glasses from last year that said 2^nd Annual when it should have said 3^rd Annual this year. That’s kinda lame when you pay to enter. Last year they had barrel shaped glasses for beer that were nice — not this year. The grass should have been freshly mowed — especially since it was a rainy day. Sample vendors should be placed so that the lines do not clog up the flow of people, especially inside the pavilion.

I agree with John on this front. It’s in its second year — there are bound to be issues.
They had ample parking for the event and the volunteers were very good about telling us where to park and go.
It was a gorgeous day, which brings a lot of people, in a central location, with booze samples — there are bound to be lines! I agree the wine tent was a bit overwhelming at times (I think last year there were two tents) but then I just stepped out, walked around and looked at the vendors and waited for a time when it was less crowded.
The best thing to do in that situation is buy a bottle of wine to share with your friends and drink it so you have something to fall back on if the sample areas are swamped.
While I had to skip the line for the crab pita due to the long line, I opted to get a crabcake which was decent and also fast and reasonably priced.
The music was awesome this year and while I can’t comment on the beer tickets and issues with that since I’m not a beer drinker — there were people handing out sample tickets around.
I would go again next year and maybe our comments will help make it better!

I had a great time! Most vendors were really generous with their samples. I didn’t need to purchase any more tickets, but I’m kind of a lightweight. Regardless, the extra sample tickets were only a dollar each which I thought was reasonable. I also got some free wine samples!

Last year was better!!! Less organized this year had to buy tickets for everything left after 1hr didn’t want to support such a disaster. Won’t go back next year!!!

I missed last year and heard it was a wash out (literally) but this year the weather was perfect. The music was great and the lines were somewhat long, but they moved real fast.
They did run out of a few beers in the late afternoon so I did not get to taste them all, but the tickets they gave with the mug, coupled with the free wine tastings was great. Kudos to the guy who was giving out extra tasting tickets – much appreciated!
This is the first year at this venue so there were some minor operational glitches – heard the porta potties were short on TP (but I prefer fallen leaves in the woods over a porta potty so not firsthand). I am sure these will be addressed next year… and more glitches will surface then — hey, we all learn.
All in all a really fun day with great friends, great music and some new beers. Looking forward to next year!
Oh, and there were a lot of kids there, but I am not sure it is the venue for them either. Kinda conflicted, maybe next year a few activities specifically for the kids?

Get your tickets today for the second annual Kegs and Corks Beer and Wine Festival. This event was so popular in 2012 that it has been moved to a larger venue, the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds in Crownsville, Maryland. This is a unique festival where craft beer and wine come together… catering to beer and wine lovers alike.