Bourbon, Brew, BBQ & Blues Is About to Take Over Downtown Ridgefield
Tomorrow, Saturday, June 20, The Neighborhood Refuge and Overlook Park turn into a full-on summer festival — local distilleries, craft breweries, smoky BBQ, and live blues from 2 to 8 PM. Here's everything you need to know before the day arrives.
If you've spent any time in downtown Ridgefield, you already know The Neighborhood Refuge. Renee Serface and her crew have built more than a craft cocktail bar at 113 S Main — they've built a gathering place, and they have a habit of dreaming up events that pull the whole town out of the house. This one might be their biggest yet.
Tomorrow, Saturday, June 20, the Refuge is teaming up with Overlook Park to host Bourbon, Brew, BBQ & Blues — a six-hour festival bringing together local distilleries, craft breweries, food vendors, craft vendors, and live blues music all day long, right in the heart of downtown.
What to Expect
The lineup hits all four corners of the name, and then some:
Bourbon
A curated lineup of local distilleries pouring tastes all afternoon. Your ticket's tasting tokens are your passport — sip your way through the day.
Brew
Craft breweries from around the area, so the beer lovers in your crew are just as covered as the whiskey crowd.
BBQ
Food vendors serving up enough smoky goodness to keep your glass full and your stomach happy — their words, and we believe them.
Blues
Live blues music flowing from 2 PM straight through to 8 — a full day's soundtrack while you wander between the tents.
Add in craft vendors set up throughout the park, and this is less a tasting event and more a proper street festival — the kind of thing downtown Ridgefield was built for.
Tickets — Last Chance to Buy Online Tonight
Tickets are $25 and include five tasting tokens plus your own tasting glass to carry through the event. One ticket covers entry for one person.
It's Happening Tomorrow — Here's the Latest
As of today, 330 tickets have already sold. Online sales stay open until 8:00 PM tonight — grab yours now on The Neighborhood Refuge's event page. Because they only have so many tasting glasses to go around, tickets will also be sold at the door tomorrow if they aren't sold out first. If the $25 tasting tickets do sell out, there's still a way in: a $10 general entry fee will get you into the festival, with the Refuge's normal full bar menu available instead of the tasting tokens.
Know Before You Go
A Few Local Tips
- It's a 21+ kind of day. The Refuge's spaces are 21 and over, and this is a tasting event — plan accordingly.
- Come hungry. Five tasting tokens go further with BBQ in hand. Pace yourself; it's a six-hour festival, not a sprint.
- Parking fills up downtown. Main Avenue gets busy on event days — arrive early or plan to walk a few blocks.
- The weather's cooperating. Forecast for Saturday is calling for 72° and sunny — about as perfect as a Ridgefield festival day gets. Sunscreen and a hat still aren't a bad idea.
- Tickets are going fast. With 330 already sold and a limited supply of tasting glasses, buy online today if you want to guarantee the full tasting experience rather than the $10 door option.
The Crew Behind It
This festival is hosted by The Neighborhood Refuge, the handcrafted cocktail bar at 113 S Main Ave owned by Renee and Justin Serface. If you've been to any one of their events, their live music weekends, or their famously packed Song Bingo Sundays, you know they don't do anything halfway. Bourbon, Brew, BBQ & Blues is them taking everything that works inside the bar and spreading it across an entire park.
You can follow along for festival updates on their Instagram — vendor announcements and more details are rolling out as the day gets closer.
More from Meanwhile in Ridgefield
We'll see you at Overlook Park tomorrow — come say hi if you spot us in the bourbon line. And if you go, tag your photos so the rest of the town can live vicariously until next year.
