A latte to offer: Coffee Festival makes its debut

LACONIA — Despite unseasonal heat, the debut of the New England Coffee Festival set downtown abuzz on Saturday.

As the sun broke out of morning fog, crowds percolated between food trucks and an art walk at the Belknap Mill, workshops and panels in the Colonial Theatre, a NH Humane Society cat cafe, and an outdoor adventure experience at the train station. The festival concluded with a latte art showdown, where baristas from across New England put their milk-pouring skills to the test, tournament style. 

The festival aimed to bring consumers and industry professionals together. This  meant a dual-pronged approach: bringing locals into the specialty coffee conversation and inviting business representatives to engage with the city. 

Community members from across the state and region explored the festival, with some buying tickets and others sticking to outdoor events like live music and venturing into local businesses. 

Susan and Tony Korjagin of Concord came to Gilford celebrating Tony’s birthday. They bought two-day tickets and used them to attend workshops on top of their visits to the mill and free drink samples on Canal Street– tea for Tony, who “hates coffee,” and cold brew for Susan.

“It just seemed like a fun thing to do while we’re in town,” Susan said. The Korjagins were impressed by the large scale of the event and the busyness of downtown.

“We love Laconia,” Susan said. “Just today Laconia has more things going on than Concord does in a week.” 

Nicole and Piper G. drove from Center Harbor to attend the festival. Opting out of tickets, they lunched at the food trucks – as self-described "Cheese Louise" truck devotees, it was a must – and wandered the art walk. 

“We’ve been coming to Laconia more and more in the last few years, and this is just another draw for us,” Nicole said. “It’s nice to see such a big investment in the city.” 

In contrast to traditional events in the industry, the festival gave coffee roasters, café owners and baristas a space to connect with consumers. 

Alex Stoyle, owner of Revelstoke Coffee in Concord, said that the inclusion of the community into the event was “the most important part.”

“Coffee expos can be hyper-technical and hyper-focused. And the specialty coffee industry definitely has this image of being snooty and aloof,” Stoyle said. “I really felt we were able to show people that there are shops without that stereotypical atmosphere.” 

For Stoyle, who long patronized Wayfarer before opening Revelstoke, the event sparked his passion for fostering coffee connections. 

“We feel reenergized,” Stoyle said. “It made me excited to come home and keep building community here in Concord.” Stoyle said he had already begun planning new events, both coffee-related and not, to host at his location across from the State House. 

The event also showcased the growth of downtown Laconia through the use of the Colonial Theatre and the participation of local businesses, many of which opened in the last few years. 

“It was great to see all the ways each business found a way to honor the event and stay true to themselves,” said John Bethell, owner of Piedmont Print and Frame on Canal Street. “I think this was a return to downtown for a lot of people for the first time in a long while.”

“It showed me how much Laconia has to offer,” said Andrew Drummond, owner of the combination mountain gear shop and coffee company Ski the Whites in Jackson, NH. 

“To watch Laconia’s transformation – starting with local businesses and blossoming with the Colonial Theatre – you can really see there’s some good momentum happening,” Stoyle said.

This being the first coffee festival Wayfarer has hosted, there was much to be learned by doing. 

“I wish there were vendor and artist tents all up and down [Canal Street]” said Andrew Wolff, who lives in Franklin but works in Laconia. “To make it feel more like a festival.”

“But it does feel very collaborative,” said Stephanie Wolff. “We want something like this for Franklin. It’s a great idea.” 

Nate Van Dusen of Brio Coffeeworks in Burlington, Vermont, said that the festival filled a regional gap in the industry. 

At times, however, Van Dusen said multitasking industry-oriented programming and consumer engagement made it hard to do both things well. 

“Hosting technical workshops with such a broad audience, in terms of background knowledge, we had to simplify how we approached teaching,” Van Dusen said. “And maybe that meant some of the industry people didn’t get as much out of those workshops.” He suggested that having some parts of the festival set aside for industry professionals and some for enthusiasts would maximize the experience of all audiences. 

Van Dusen also emphasized his support for the festival's goals. 

“Any opportunity you have to speak to people and introduce them into the community is a good thing. It’s important for there to be more and more access points,” he said. 

Bethell said that next year he hopes the different spaces of the event are more connected. “What was going on at the mill was so well done, and the Colonial was a big draw. But maybe if you weren’t from here, you weren’t aware of all the different stops you could make,” Bethell said, and suggested that an event passport might help direct engagement. 

“For a first year, I was blown away,” said Stoyle of Revelstoke, “not only by the organization but the welcoming atmosphere that Wayfarer put on.”

“So many industry people say ‘I’ve always thought we should do something like this in NH,’” Stoyle said. “I commend Wayfarer and the city for having the gusto to do it.” 

“I wasn’t sure what to expect going in,” Drummond said. “It stands up to other festivals I’ve been to – and it’s got the infrastructure to grow going forward.”

Karen Bassett, co-owner of Wayfarer and organizer behind the festival, said that the success of the event left her “speechless.” 

“It was so neat to see downtown flooded with people,” Bassett said. “At least two of the food trucks told me they sold out of food.” 

The industry responded well to the festival’s novel approach, Bassett said. “I got so much feedback from [peers] saying ‘we never get a chance to share with consumers like this.’”

“I thought things went very smoothly,” Bassett said. “But it was the first year, so there are, of course, things to work out.” Planned improvements include minimizing overlap in events so that everyone can go to all they want to and more effectively communicating the flow of the event.

Overall, support from the city and the industry impressed Bassett. Many vendors have already signed up for next year’s festival. 

“People take a risk on you in the first year, and it’s really encouraging when people are already saying ‘count me in for next year.’”