Hops & Crops Music and Beer Festival returns to Mary Olson Farm

Cold craft beers and ciders, soulful music, newly planted gardens and plenty of room to roam about in a beautiful setting.

Cold craft beers and ciders, soulful music, newly planted gardens and plenty of room to roam about in a beautiful setting.

The Hops & Crops Music and Beer Festival brings its unique blend of selected sights, sounds and tastes to the adult crowd on Sept. 12. The sixth annual brew-fest returns to historic Mary Olson Farm, offering new attractions, a wide range of music and, of course, satisfying suds.

Eleven area breweries will occupy the beer garden, serving up more than 30 craft beers and ciders.

All for a good cause.

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Proceeds support educational programming at the farm, an Auburn treasure and a King County Landmark that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The event continues to grow as a regional attraction for the 21-and-up crowd.

“We were floored the first year (on) how well it went … 900 or so people came,” said Patricia Cosgrove, festival coordinator and executive director of the White River Valley Museum, which oversees the restored farm. “It’s been a similar event throughout, but we just got better at producing it.”

The inaugural event turned a profit, Cosgrove said, adding that proceeds and attendance have incrementally grown each year.

This festival is just as big.

Live performances will showcase the eclectic Seattle music scene with bands representing roots, indie-pop, neo-soul and garage blues. Grace Love and the True Love, a hot soul and funk group, and Ayron Jones and the Way, a soulful rock band, headline the artists.

New to the festival this year is the Hops Craze, a demonstration garden that pays homage to the farm’s history. In its early days, the family farm was a source of hops, a cash crop of the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Newly planted farmhouse flower gardens also grace the grounds.

As Cosgrove explains, guests can bring a camp chair or blankets to sit back and enjoy the music, peruse a craft and farmer’s marketplace, meet the farm’s animal residents, take a tour of the historic farmhouse and fully-restored Weaving House, or try their hand at classic lawn games.

“The whole farm is a beer garden, so you can go wherever you want with your taster mug,” Cosgrove said. “We want to give people some fun between the music, games and exhibits, so you can spend a nice afternoon.”

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Event glance

• Event: Hops & Crops Music and Beer Festival, noon-6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12.

• Place: Mary Olson Farm, a 67-acre 1887 family subsistence farm along the Green River. The farm, 28728 Green River Road SE, is a King County Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• Presenting sponsor: Reber Ranch

• Performances: Ayron Jones and the Way, Grace Love and the True Love, The Hoot Hoots and The Cottonwood Cutups.

• Breweries to date: Airways Brewing, Freemont Brewing, Georgetown Brewing, Hilliards Beer, Ironhorse Brewing, Lake Tapps Brewing Co., Lantern Brewing, Pyramid Brewing, Schilling Cider, Silver City Brewing, and Snoqualmie Falls Brewing.

• Food: Barbecue and snacks available for purchase.

• Tickets: $15 pre-sale (Sept. 4 deadline), $20 at the gate. Taster admission includes taster mug and five tokens. $10 designated driver/no taste admission. Purchase tickets at the festival or online at wrvmuseum.org/hopsandcrops.html.

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COURTESY PHOTO BELOW: Ayron Jones, middle, Deandre Enrico (bass), left, and Kai Van De Pitte (drums), right, compose Ayron Jones and the Way, a soulful ‘urban rock’ band from Seattle that plays at the Hops & Crops Music and Beer Festival on Sept. 12.