Sydney’s Inner West Ale Trail will host Inner West Country, a celebration of music, food and community across three back-to-back jampacked weekends in May.
Spanning Marrickville to St Peters and Camperdown, an eclectic lineup of live music will be accompanied by family-friendly experiences such as First Nations storytelling, laneway dance parties, food events, vinyl markets, cowboy hat crafting and more.
Taking place over 10-11 May, 17-18 May and 24-25 May, the three-weekend event is free to attend and promises to showcase the creative spirit and diverse culture of the trail’s craft breweries and their communities.
The event kicks off at Pickle Monkey Brewing Co on Saturday 10 May with a chilli-eating contest hosted by Burnin’ Bites Down Under, while Sauce Brewing Co will welcome genre-blending DJ Levins and special guests to Marrickville beer garden for the Dance Country Party on Mother’s Day, Sunday 11 May.
Festivities continue on Saturday 17 May at Young Henrys, where the Newtown brewery will collaborate with First Nations creative collective Awesome Black on an event that showcases live music, cultural dance, basket weaving and storytelling. The Mindjiigari Ngurru – From Sky to Country event will feature a lineup of 10 First Nations artists and DJs and celebrate inclusivity and cultural exchange.
Awesome Black’s Creative Lead Travis De Vries says: “This event is about grounding First Nations culture in the everyday, not just in ceremony but in joy, sound, and most importantly… beer gardens. We’re building a 24-hour economy that doesn’t erase us, but makes space for us, in our complexity, humour, power and beauty.”
Wayward Brewing Co will shut down its laneway on Saturday 24 May for the Hoedown Throwdown Laneway Party, and on the same day, acclaimed Inner West chef Mitch Orr and World’s Best BBQ pitmaster Jo Chewy will host the Country Cookout community feast at Future Brewing.
The event series will wrap up on Sunday 18 May at Chuck & Sons, where children are invited to craft their own cowboy hats ahead of live DJs and line dancing with Marrickville’s Saddle Club.
Across three weekends of celebrations, the live music roster includes a performance from Charlie Finn at Wildflower Brewing & Blending, Reggae Nation takeover by Sunday Dub Club at Batch Brewing, and DJs at Grifter, Willie the Boatman, Philter Brewing, Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre and Mixtape.
The Inner West Country music and food program will be supported by each of the breweries’ usual offerings of locally-brewed beers and food menus.