In planning this year’s second NC Bourbon & Spirits Festival, organizers took lessons learned from the last one, said Bruce Tyler of Weldon Mills Distillery.

“I don’t think we knew quite what to expect,” he said Monday. “We hoped that we would have a good festival. We hoped that people would enjoy themselves. We hoped that we could expose folks to North Carolina spirits, bourbon spirits. That’s the whole point of it was to come out and see what North Carolina has to offer.”

The organizers, which included BarnBurner Promotions, were hoping for a good turnout and 5,000 people attended.

“I thought it was a great crowd. We had the lobby, we had the theater itself, and we had the outdoor space. None of it seemed empty at any given time throughout even though all three were operating at the same time.”

(Gates open at 2 p.m. Saturday at Weldon Mills Theatre and tickets for the 21 and over only event should be purchased directly from the theater's website)

With the event moving outdoors Saturday, Tyler there are prayers for the weather to cooperate, which as of this report showed a forecast of a high around 82 and a low of 69.

“I think it’s going to be great festival weather.”

With everything outdoors he said, “Everything is going to be right there. Folks will be able to turn one way and they can go get food. They go another way, they go check out North Carolina distilleries and turn the other way and there’s music. Turn the other way there’s some beer and some more Weldon Mills booths over there. I think that folks are really going to enjoy it. I think having everything in one central location is really going to give folks that feel that you get from big festivals.”

BarnBurner

When the festival was started last year, there were challenges trying to do everything in Weldon, he said. “We had just closed on the theater so it made sense to make the switch-out so we were more heavily involved in the beginning because it was the first time we had done anything like this.”

Now, he said, referring to Julie Powell and Allison Askew of BarnBurner, “Why not leave it to the pros who do musical events all the time? We’re still involved in it but more along the lines of assisting. We’re letting BarnBurner, who are the pros, have the lead.”

As far as the job the BarnBurner team has done with the theater, Tyler said, “That theater, from the onset, from its construction, no one has been able to run it successfully. We have had good fortune there due to BarnBurner. We have given BarnBurner the reins on that theater. We, the owners, also have input, but at the end of the day BarnBurner runs the show there and that’s why it’s been successful. I feel that they’re fantastic. I feel they’ve done an amazing job because that theater is not an easy theater to run because of its size and the fact there’s nothing else around it. You’ve got to create the right mix of artists that are going to fill up the seats. But you’ve got to do it in a way that folks don’t have to pay a thousand dollars to watch a show so you have to be smart and it’s constant work.”

Behind the scenes is mind-blowing, he said, speaking of “how much they fight nonstop to get acts out there. Live Nation purposefully blocks out the large areas where theaters can’t get acts through. They also block them out for longer than anyone else. It’s tough. Not only do you have to find a band that is open for dates you want them to be at, but they also couldn’t have done anything within a certain radius. It’s very difficult, but let me tell you they have been killing it — more so than everybody sees. Everybody sees the success that they’ve had, but behind the scenes I get to see that and let me tell you — it’s a daunting task and they handle it. They are making it happen and I have full confidence that they are going to make this year’s bourbon festival a success.”

Tyler said the reason he handed the festival to the BarnBurner team is because he has seen their capabilities. “It’s because I work with them daily at the theater and I know that they are 100 percent determined to make every show or event they do a success.”

New distilleries

There will be a couple of new distilleries coming for the festival, he said. “The ones that we picked up that are coming in are going to be great. It’s a variety. We didn’t want this to be a Weldon Mills music festival. We want this to be where folks can come out and they can try spirits from across North Carolina and I feel like the representation this year does that. I think folks are going to be happy with it.”

There will be quality distilleries coming to the festival, Tyler said. 

One of them is BHAWK — the Brad Halling American Whiskey Ko. “BHAWK is an old Delta Force operator,” he said. “Folks probably know him from Black Hawk Down. He was one of the Delta Force guys involved in Somalia. But Brad Halling American Whiskey, his distillery will be out there. You’ve got Cape Fear bringing their tiki bar so they’ll have two spots out there. Those are two new additions that are going to be great additions.”

The museum exhibit

As a spirit historian, Tyler said the North Carolina Craft Beverage Museum will be bringing a display and will keep it up in the distillery for about a month so those touring through can learn more about the state’s history. “It’s not just liquor. This is craft beverage in general. We’re talking about wine, we’re talking about beer and spirits. It’s a mobile display so it’s nothing significantly large, but it’s a cool little piece that you can read about the craft spirits  industry, the craft wine industry, and the craft beer industry in North Carolina. I think folks will enjoy it. To me, having these little add-ons throughout the festival is something else to do.”

Tyler said not only does the museum preserve the history and educate the public, they also support craft beverage companies in the state. “They offer training, they offer assistance. They have a university where they teach distillers on how to become distillers. They can help outfit distillers across North Carolina with personnel. They’re just a great addition to the industry here in the state. It’s something people don’t know about.”

He said he is excited about the second edition of the festival. “The whole goal of this is — one — to give people something to do and have a good time, but — two — really expose the folks to the quality spirits that are being produced across North Carolina. We’re less than two percent of the market in North Carolina. That’s going to change because North Carolina is producing quality spirits. We need to invest in local businesses because investing in local businesses, choosing local businesses, products from local businesses is choosing ourselves really. We’re keeping the money in our local economy and we’re also allowing that money to help pay taxes and keep employment up.”