Jackson Free Press

Once a year, Jacksonians gather at the Jackson Zoo to socialize and eat—and drink beer—while looking at the animals.

Zoo Brew began in 2007 and has since grown tremendously from around 80 attendants to last year's standing total of around 1,100. "We have been at this for quite some time and hope for an increase this year," says Toni Francis, the zoo's special-events manager.

This year's festival, which Capital City Beverage is sponsoring, will feature several different highlights. Upon entering the zoo, festivalgoers will receive a cup for samples of more than 60 craft beers.

Eight restaurants, including The Bulldog, The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen, The Iron Horse Grill and Wingstop, will provide food and drink samples for attendees. Interested festivalgoers can participate in the Home Brew Area that Raise Your Pints of Mississippi will host, where they can sample craft beers from local brewers as the brewers' share their secret ingredients and answer questions.

Home brewing has become some Mississippians' favorite past times since its legalization in 2013.

"Home brewing peaked my interest since I was first gifted a home brew kit a few years back," says Craig Hendry, president of Raise Your Pints and a local home brewer. "I made a couple of batches and the results were pretty good and it kind of took off from there."

Patrons can now purchase brewing kits locally at Brewhaha Homebrew Supply.

For those who love chicken wings, Zoo Brew's wing-eating competition is also that night. For those who want to drink instead can participate in the craft beer-cocktail competition. Several new surprise commercial and home brew beers will debut at the Zoo Brew this year. "If you want to try new beers, this is the best place to do it," Hendry says. "It's a beer fest, and it's featuring many different styles and brands of beer. It's just a good way to try new varieties without spending a bunch of money."

The main stage will be set up in the Mississippi Area, which is attached to the Education Building, with live music kicking off at 4 p.m., as the first performer, blues artist Sherman Lee Dillon, hits the stage exclusively during VIP hour, followed by European Theater at 5 p.m.

Home Brew Area participants' will receive a personal performance from percussionist Cucho Gonzalez as other festivalgoers enjoy the sounds of Offbeat owner Phillip Rollins, also known as DJ Young Venom, on the turntables and country-rock band Kudzu Kings from Oxford at 7:30 p.m.

"We will have plenty of things going on for everyone this year," Francis says. "I worked with a ton of people who helped me organize everything."

The zoo expects this year's Zoo Brew attendance to increase from last year, so a massive amount of volunteers were required. Raise Your Pints of Mississippi is responsible for bringing in 40 to 50 of those volunteers. Zoo Young Professionals is a new group and will contribute to the festival decor, as well as crowd control.

As always, Francis says Zoo Brew's ultimate goal is to increase patronization of the Jackson Zoo and to bring an influx of income to Jackson.

"This is a huge fundraiser for the zoo," Francis says.

"That's the whole point behind all of this. They can enjoy the outdoors and the festival. People are always looking for something fun to do, and each ticket comes with that feeling knowing you are doing something good for the city and a nonprofit."

Each attendee is strongly encouraged to bring a designated driver who can purchase tickets for $15. The DD can participate in all activities except the craft beer-sampling portion. Attendees who would like to beat the crowd can purchase VIP tickets for $60, which allows them early entrance. Those guests will receive a complimentary gift bag. Advanced tickets are $30, and general admission is $35. Those who plan to attend must be 21 or older. Guests can view the animals until dusk. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit jacksonzoo.org.