The festival has been cancelled, but the beer had already been brewed, so why let it go to waste?
The Mariposa Folk Festival has collaborated with Sawdust City Brewing Company to create the Mariposa Sun Lager. The idea came from the festival’s 60th-anniversary committee.
“We intended to sell it at the festival this year. Of course, that didn’t happen,” said Pam Carter, president of the Mariposa Folk Foundation.
The COVID-19 pandemic led organizers to cancel the popular event, which was scheduled to take place next month at Tudhope Park, but the decision was made to go ahead with the lager.
“It’s another way to keep Mariposa out there during a year when the festival was cancelled,” Carter said. “Beer and folk music just seem to go hand in hand on a hot summer day at the park, listening to some great music.”
Sawdust City brewmaster Sam Corbeil described Mariposa Sun as “the ideal summer lager.”
“When discussing this collaboration with our partners at Mariposa, we were inspired to create something flavourful yet really crushable that captures the unique spirit of the Mariposa Folk Festival,” he said in a news release. “So, we did our collective thing — seeking out the perfect balance of ingredients and producing a beer with classic lager characteristics. It’s a labour of love when it all comes together like it has for Mariposa Sun Lager.”
The warm colours on the label, along with a sun and a “hippie van,” are meant to stir up memories of Mariposa.
“Everyone who has attended the festival would agree there is nothing like a Mariposa sunset, a hippie van in the distance, acoustic guitars strumming, and people singing along,” Mariposa Folk Foundation vice-president Ken Rovinelli said in the release. “We wanted to capture that vibe in both the beer and the branding.”
The lager, with a 4.2 per cent alcohol by volume, is made with flaked corn, Canadian pale two-row malt and a touch of German pilsner malt. It is available at the Sawdust City Brewing Company in Gravenhurst and can be ordered online at sawdustcitybrewing.com and is available for a limited time.
“Raise a glass and cheer with us, and we hope to see you in 2021,” Carter said.
Fans don’t have to wait that long to take in some Mariposa music. The festival has partnered with the National Arts Centre to put on a virtual concert featuring Julian Taylor and Kalyna Rakel. It can be watched live on the Mariposa Facebook page starting at 8:30 p.m. tonight. It will be live-streamed from the Tranzac Club in downtown Toronto.
Taylor will perform from 8:30 to 9:15 p.m., followed by Rakel from 9:15 to 9:45 p.m.
