MID-CITY — Already starting the weekend countdown?
The 18th Street Arts Center is bringing its popular Beer, Art and Music Festival (BAM Fest) back to Santa Monica this Saturday, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
From Los Angeles-based Angel City Brewery to the Boston Beer Company, more than 40 craft beer venders will serve a crowd that is expected to reach 1,500.
"It's really focused on selecting some of the best craft beer breweries in the local area, and we have almost all of them," said event organizer Nicole Gordillo Schimpf of Tap & Cheer Events.
Small, locally-owned breweries like Los Angeles Ale Works and The Dudes' Brewing Company will be pouring alongside the likes of beer giants Sierra Nevada, Dogfish Head and Stone.
For a ticket price of $50, attendees will be able to sample them all.
Along with unlimited beer samples, the fourth annual BAM Fest offers live entertainment, local art exhibitions and lectures from industry professionals.
"We've included crash courses to educate people, basically 20-minute breakout sessions that cover how to do homebrewing … how to pair beer and food, just kind of the intricacies of the craft beer world and the art that goes into it," said Gordillo Schimpf.
Local musicians Ben Bateman, Cory Phillips & the Groove Orchestra, Kotol√°n and Raul Pacheco & The Immaculate Conception will throw down an eclectic mix of Japanese, Latin, funk and country sounds throughout the afternoon.
Additionally, gourmet food trucks specializing in American, Asian, Latin and organic cuisine will be on hand to complement the tastings.
The primary focus of BAM Fest, however, is the Santa Monica arts community.
All of the event's proceeds will go to the 18th Street Arts Center, which for 25 years has served local artists by offering long- and short-term residency programs and sponsoring public exhibitions.
BAM Fest 2013 will give the public an opportunity to explore the work of the organization's Artist Labs Resident Adri√° Juli√°, whose installation focuses on the relationship between the camera and the bodies that operate it.
A number of other 18th Street resident artists will open their studios for the afternoon as well.
"I think people in Santa Monica are ... open to the idea of trying new things and that's what this event is about," Gordillo Schimpf said. "It's about sampling unique beers, listening to local live music, being exposed to contemporary art people might not normally go and see."
To see the full list of venders, purchase tickets or learn more about the event, visit 18thstreet.org.
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