Bacon and Beer Festival – Next Thursday, August 20th, 2015

Michael Snyder, CEO of Crossroads Programs, is bringing out the big guns: though his nonprofit runs several events during the year as fundraisers, none is more successful than the South Jersey annual Bacon & Beer Festival. This year the festival will be held on Thursday, August 20, from 6-8:30pm at the Grand Ballroom of the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Collingswood. Tickets for are $37.50 and are available online at http://www.wheretoeat.in/2015-south-jersey-bacon-and-beer-festival/ .

The popular event features a dozen restaurants all offering tastings of a wide variety of dishes. “Our only requirement is that they have bacon,” says Snyder. “Aside from that they chefs can use their imagination…and they do.” Last year’s festival featured bacon chowder, bacon pasta, bacon doughnuts and bacon infused bloody marys. “We can’t wait to see what’s on the menu this year.” Crossroads is joined by EatBoston which raises money for non-profits all across the country. The latest Bacon & Beer Festival in Boston raised over $60,000 for participating organizations.

Crossroads Programs runs homeless shelters for teens and has built an extensive network of foster treatment parents. Still, the organization has struggled to make itself known to the public – until they developed the SJ Bacon and Beer Festival. So popular has the combination of both foods been that Snyder often has donors calling him months ahead of time to insure they get a ticket.

This year the organization had no trouble signing up new restaurants eager to compete (“best bacon dish” and “best beer” are awarded by popular choice contests), spanning Gloucester, Camden and Burlington counties. Fifteen restaurants will be on hand to offer tastings of their bacon favorites and 11 breweries will offer craft beer tastings.

Participating Restaurants
The Pop Shop
The Tortilla Press
Tortilla Press Cantina
Bistro di Marino
Blueplate
Braddocks Tavern
Aunt Berta’s Kitchen
Andreottis Catering
Otts Tavern
Robin’s Nest
DiBartolo’s Bakery
Kitchen 519
Trattoria Figaro
Famous Dave’s
Local Links

Participating Breweries
Downeast Cider
Evil Genius
Flying Fish
Founders
Neshiminay Creek
Pinelands Brewing
Saucony Creek
Sixpoint
Smuttynose
Troegs
Weyerbacher