People attending Saturday’s Downtown Dalton Beer Tasting Festival will be helping the city develop a public art program that officials hope will enhance the area’s quality of life and contribute to a “sense of place.”
The proceeds from Saturday’s festival and the Downtown Wine & Dine Festival in September will go toward the public art program, which is being developed in consultation with the Creative Arts Guild, said Veronica French, marketing director of the Downtown Dalton Development Authority.
“We’re excited,” French said. “I think public art is an important thing that some of the general population doesn’t realize its importance, because it’s just kind of there, but it really helps the quality of life of the people who live there, whether they notice it or not. And it adds to the culture and the sense of place of a town, it kind of gives it a bit more of an identity.”
French said the idea is for something similar to what Chattanooga city leaders have done there.
“It’s quite expensive to do that,” she said. “It hasn’t been decided what the end number (spending) will be because we’re still working on exactly what kind of art and those sort of questions, but the (DDDA) board agreed to put the proceeds from this event and the wine festival in September to the art program.”
Organizers hope to sell 1,000 tickets to Saturday’s festival, which is slated to run from 3 to 7 p.m. This is the second year the festival has been held.
Tickets are $25 per person in advance and $35 at the gate and include samples of more than 30 craft beers from the United States and around the world, as well as a commemorative tasting mug.
The festival site is what city leaders call the official Downtown Festival Grounds (King Street from Pentz Street to Selvidge Street/Selvidge Street from Crawford Street to Dalton Green/Dalton Green). There will be live music from local band Hasty in the Ruckus and food booths.
All ages are welcome to attend the festival, but you must be 21 years or older to participate in the tasting. A ride home program will be available.
Tickets are available at the DDDA office, the Dalton Freight Depot Visitors Center and online at www.downtowndalton.com.
Last year 70 percent of the proceeds from the festival benefited Keeping Kids First, which helps augment “angel funds” that each school system has for short-term emergency aid for students or their families.
For a look at what Chattanooga has done with its public art efforts, visit www.chattanooga.gov/PRAC/30_PublicArt.htm.
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