In retrospect, it was bound to happen. The Pemberton Music Festival now has its own official beer. The event, which brought out 115,000 fans last year and is Canada’s biggest music (and comedy) festival, will be taking place July 14-17 this year in Pemberton, BC. And besides sporting a stellar lineup that includes everybody from Kaskade and Bassnectar to Thievery Corporation and Girl Talk, the festival now boasts its very own brand of suds. Thanks to a partnership between the event’s parent company, New Orleans-based Huka Entertainment, and Canadian microbrewery Granville Island Brewing, getting a taste of the Pemberton Festival this year will mean something a little bit different.
Campground Common will not only be available at the festival, you can pick it up all over British Columbia as well as Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta. The limited-run beer commemorating the festival’s third year contains Canadian pilsner plus crystal malts and hops straight from Chilliwack, BC. Granville brewmaster Kevin Emms has said, “I’m really trying to capture the spirit of Pemberton Music Festival in a beer.” And the festival seems set to respond in kind; Huka is planting hops on the Pemberton festival site this year, which will be used for further festival brews next time around. Now that’s how you start a tradition.