5TH ANNUAL BACON & BEER FESTIVAL

High Hopes Foundation is excited to announce that the 5th annual Bacon & Beer Festival will return to Merrimack NH on September 11, 2021. For more than 35 years, High Hopes Foundation has provided life-enhancing experiences to New Hampshire's chronically ill children; our needs this year will be even greater in light of COVID-19’s impact on families. Bacon & Beer is our primary fundraiser, celebrating greasy, fatty, savory bacon alongside the endless possibilities of well-crafted brews.

 After hosting several sold-out festivals, we will be expanding Bacon & Beer’s attendance to 2,500, while making plans to accommodate social distancing to maximize the safety of our attendees, brewers and restaurant partners. And new for this festival, we will invite various vendors to join us, offering desserts, merchandise and more, so bring money to spend! Great brews, awesome bacon dishes and live music from some incredible local artists will make for a perfect day of fun!

Please continue to support all the local breweries and restaurants that have made this event so successful over the years. They need our help more than ever right now.   We offer our most sincere gratitude to all healthcare and essential workers who are serving their communities during this crisis.

We all need a little hope for the future, so thank you for your continued support of High Hopes Foundation and helping us make the dreams of New Hampshire children come alive! Please join us! 

Stay safe and be well.

About NH Bacon & Beer Festival

5th Annual Bacon & Beer Festival is a fundraiser organized by High Hopes Foundation of New Hampshire – One day celebrating greasy, fatty, savory goodness of bacon, alongside the endless possibilities of flavors that have come to define well-crafted beer. We are looking to feature local restaurants and brewers to a capacity crowd, all for a good cause.

For more than 35 years, High Hopes Foundation has provided Life-enhancing Experiences to New Hampshire's chronically ill children. Our guiding principle is to make hope happen. Learn more at www.highhopesfoundation.org.

2021 NH Bacon & Beer Festival Details

Date: September 11, 2021 – 1:00pm to 4:30pm (VIP Admission at 12:00pm & General Admission at 1:00pm)

• This is the 5th year of NH Bacon & Beer Festival.

• Recognizing that our COVID Protocols may take more time than usual, the overall event time has been extended 60 minutes from 2019’s festival.

• VIP and General Admission ticket holders will be issued a printed Brewery Passport with (20) numbered slots to be used for a maximum (20) 3.5 oz pours. No individual beer and no additional tasting tickets will be sold onsite.

• Local restaurants will share food samples that contain bacon, while they last. Some bacon samplers will sell larger servings after they have exhausted their free samples.

• Event held rain or shine.

• 21+ Event — NO children or pets will be allowed into the event area.

• NO backpacks or large bags will be allowed — only small purses or fanny packs, which may be subject to search.

• NO outside alcohol or weapons of any kind may be brought in.

Location: Anheuser-Busch Brewery — Outdoor Fields, 221 Daniel Webster Hwy, Merrimack NH

Music: This year’s event will feature an incredible array of musicians:

• 12:00pm-1:40pm – Grayson Ty & Laura Buchanan — check out their single “No Mistake”

• 2:20pm-4:20pm – American Idol Finalist Alex Preston

• Afterparty: 5:00-8:00pm – The New Rockwells

COVID Safety Protocols: As of June 9th, 2021 public attendees who are fully vaccinated DO NOT need to wear a mask. Face coverings are strongly recommended for anyone who is not fully vaccinated. Social distancing among different parties is still recommended.

• OUTDOOR LOCATION: The event is located outdoors and has plenty of space for social distancing while in lines or hanging out with your party. Instead of having two large tents housing all brewers and restaurants, they will instead be placed in smaller tents located around the perimeter, with the interior of the event wide open.

• PARKING: No shuttles will be provided in 2021. Instead, guests can park at the location, or they must arrive by ride-share transportation. Try to carpool if possible as parking is limited.

• MASK USAGE: Employees, contractors and guests who are fully vaccinated DO NOT need to wear a mask. Face coverings are strongly recommended for anyone who is not fully vaccinated.

• PLASTIC SHIELDS: The ticketing office at the front gate, and all brewers, food partners and vendors will have plastic shields to separate them from guests.

• TASTING CUPS: Attendees will be provided disposable plastic tasting cups at each brewer, instead of a reusable cup that you refill multiple times. We will have recycling containers scattered around the field to place your empty tasting cups.

• BREWERY PASSPORT: You will be issued a Brewery Passport when you check in at the Box Office. On this Passport will be 20 numbered boxes, indicating the number of beer samples remaining. When you visit each brewer, they will manually punch a box before providing your sample.

• VENDORS: Vendors will offer a variety of food, dessert, products and services at an extra cost to attendees, They will be identifiable as their set-up will not be located under the official white Festival tents. In addition, some bacon samplers will sell larger servings after they have exhausted their free samples, so you may be able to get more of your favorite offerings. Some vendors may take cash (but there is no cash machine on site), but most will take cashless payment.

Tickets: In 2019, the event sold out in a few hours. For 2021, three tiers of tickets will be released: VIP, General Admission & Designated Driver, with the following perks. An optional Budweiser Biergarten Afterparty runs from 5-8pm at the Biergarten. VIP Admission starts @ 12:00pm and General Admission starts @ 1:00pm 

• VIP Admission: $100 - Limited to 600 tickets! Includes early admission at 12:00pm; expedited VIP Entrance (NEW!); Exclusive VIP Brewery Passport (don’t lose it!); (20) 3.5 oz. Brew tastings; Bacon samples while they last; Exclusive VIP Area on Biergarten Lawn with rain cover, tables, seating and front-row access to music; Exclusive VIP Restroom use inside Biergarten; (1) Bottled water (NEW!); Premiere parking on paved lots – available starting at 11am; (1) High Hopes Walking Taco to fill you up (NEW!); Free access to exclusive Budweiser Biergarten Afterparty (NEW!)

• General Admission + Afterparty: $65 - Includes (20) 3.5 oz. Brew tastings; Bacon samples while they last; (1) Bottled water (NEW!); Access to exclusive Budweiser Biergarten Afterparty (NEW!); Free parking on grass field – available starting at 12pm

• General Admission: $60 - Includes (20) 3.5 oz. Brew tastings; Bacon samples while they last; (1) bottled water (NEW!!); Free parking on grass field – available starting at 12pm

• Designated Driver: $35 - Includes bacon samples while they last; (2) Bottled waters (NEW!!); Free parking on grass field – available starting at 12pm

*** Individual beer and additional tasting tickets will not be available for purchase ***

• Budweiser Biergarten Afterparty: $10 Onsite - Runs from 5-8pm and will offer Live Music, Food Trucks, and Anheuser-Busch beer selections at full pours (price of beer not included in ticket price)

Logistics: ID Check will be at entrance and attendees are required to wear a wrist band to indicate they are 21+. Designated drivers will have a separate color band. (Beer will not be available to purchase.) No persons younger than 21 years of age will allowed into the festival area; this includes children or infants.