International Food and Beer Festival Returns for Second Year
In an effort to celebrate Clinton’s diversity and attract people to downtown, the second annual International Food and Beer Festival is scheduled for Friday, July 7, behind Andrews Memorial Town Hall from 4 to 8 p.m.
Last year, the Placemakers and Clinton Chamber of Commerce hosted the first-ever International Food and Beer Festival to highlight the different cultures and cuisines in the area. Much to the delight of foodies and residents alike, organizers have announced the festival is back for its second year.
This year the event will feature about 12 different vendors selling foods from different cultures, including representing Latin, African, Asian, Middle-Eastern, European countries, and, of course, the USA. Beers from around the world will be offered as well as Italian wines.
Besides the food and drink, there will be entertainment from different cultures, such as Irish step dancers, belly dancers, and a Caribbean steel band.
“We have some new entertainment this year, and we also have beer on draft this year which will be big. The beer will be taster, colder, and better. We also have more tables this year,” said John Allen, one of the organizers of the event.
Corporate sponsors include Paul Davis Restoration, GoNet Speed, Bausch Advanced Technologies, Schumack Engineered Construction, Indian River Enterprises, and Sweitzer Waste Management.
To say the first year was a success is an understatement.
“We were expecting about 500 to 600 people to show up. Instead, we got about 3,000,” Allen said. “It was amazing. It was an unqualified success; everyone had a lot of fun. Everything people taste at the event, there is someone in Clinton with that nationality,” Allen said.
The idea for the festival was first sparked in 2021 when the Placemakers group began having conversations about doing some kind of event to highlight the diversity in Clinton.
It’s no secret that, like most of the other shoreline towns, the majority of Clinton residents are white. However, Clinton is more diverse than one might first assume. According to the latest census data, more than 10% of residents were born somewhere other than the United States, and roughly the same number speak a language other than English at home.
Paul Orsini, the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce and one of the representatives of the Placemakers, told the Harbor News in 2022, “It’s not really well known how diverse we are. The idea for the day is to give some visibility to the different cultures found in our town as well as attract an audience of people from all along the shoreline.”