The crew that brought Long Beach its first major beer festival during the pandemic, Halloween Hootenanny and continues to do so each year since—Festival Obscura founders Martin and Ryan Hughes-Svab along with Craft Beer LB founder Dennis Trilles—found it appropriate to bring it twice a year for beer lovers. After the inability to find a proper venue last year, Halfway to Halloween Hootenanny returns for a third year in a much-celebrated spring offering from the crew.
And this year, the festivities not only include breweries and wineries but, for the first time, spirit distillers. In the spirit of connecting Long Beach with the beauty that is beer and horror, Halfway to Halloween Hootenanny goes down on April 19 at Rancho Los Cerritos.
Is there anything new at Halfway to Halloween Hootenanny?
Spirits being brought to the festival marks a huge turn for the crew behind it. And in pure Long Beach fashion, the Obscura/Craft LB team has brought on none other than Julio Gutierrez of Chunktikis to play around with Beachwood Distilling and Willie’s Tin Shop spirits for guests to take. When it comes to Chuntikis the most beautiful part of it all is how Gutierrez manages to mix cultural history with booze. In other words, Hootenanny guests are in for a genuine treat (or trick).
There’s also going to be plenty of dancing to engage in if that’s your thin thanks to ghoulishly groovy sets from Sasha Ortega and The Goons. And, yes, there will be be an adult egg hunt.
So this is a Halfway to Halloween Hootenanny—but is it celebrated elsewhere, this halfway-to-Halloween thing? Yes.
In Gaelic terms, it is called Beltane, the spring equinox that marks the halfway point toward Samhain, or what Americans commonly call Halloween—and in Long Beach, at least for myself, it represents part of my favorite beer festival, the annual Halloween Hootenanny and Halfway to Halloween Hootenanny celebrations.
“For some cultures, Beltane is actually more important and more celebrated than Halloween itself, or what they call Samhain,” Ryan said when the first festival launched in 2022. “And compared to the last Halloween Hootenanny, this one is a bit more focused on the horror part: We have more horror vendors, we’re encouraging people to bring on the costumes… It’s going to be just a great reason to escape.”
It’s a damn good reason to escape: This is the halfway point to Halloween, Long Beach—and Halloween Hootenanny is here to celebrate that.
The peeps behind Halloween Hootenanny are Long Beach beer veterans
Not only are the Hughes-Svab duo an essential part of the craft beer community—Martin opened Phantom Carriage in its wee days—but with Trilles, they’ve been serving the craft beer community for well over a decade.
The list of breweries, cideries, wineries, and kombucha makers—but especially the breweries—is a beautiful spotlight on Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Diego, and every other part of California’s grasp on independent beer.
What should we expect from this version of Halloween Hootenanny?
Just look at this list of libation producers:
- Altar Society
- Ambitious Ales
- Arts District
- Beachwood Brewing Co.
- Beachwood Blendery
- Bembel Cider
- Bourgogne des Flanders
- Brauerei Fruh
- Burnin Daylight
- Cellador Ales
- Creature Comforts
- Dutch’s Brewhouse
- Everywhere Beer
- Gebr. Summer
- Grevensteiner
- Galipette Biologique
- Hopsaint
- ISM Beer
- La Jara
- Long Beach Beer Lab
- Kerel Kaishaku
- Kloster Andechs
- Orion Craft Beer
- Praga Pils
- Project Barley
- Sangre de Tigre
- St. Feuillien
- Timmermans
- Tortugo Brewing Co.
- Triple Karmeliet
- Radiant Brewing
- RIIP Beer
- Vampire Family Wines
- Veltins
- Weltenberger
Spirits vendors:
- Wille’s Tin Shop
- Beachwood Brewing & Distilling
- Chuntikis
Artists, authors, and other vendors:
- Craft Beer LB
- Local Beer Brand
- Mood Poison
- Error ‘84
- Halloween Hun
- Coolsville
- Art of Sketch
- Monster Tees
- Brian Asman
- Memento Mori Goods
- Bat in Your Belfy
- Twigz Morgue
- Rock N Horror
- La Dama Luna
Food and dessert vendors:
- Shady Grove Foods
- Whale Face Musubi
- Leaf Over Beef
- Lumpia
- Yakitori Cartel
- Death by Chocolate Confectioners
- Temporary Coffee Solution
- Donia Begonia Kitchen
Music and performers:
- DJ Paul E Wog
- DJ Buttercuts
- Christopher Wonder
- Sasha Ortega
- The Goons
Go get yer hootenanny’n’hops on, Long Beach.
