Coffee Festival plans fully brewed for second year

LACONIA — The New England Coffee Festival will make its sophomore appearance on the streets of downtown on the evening of Friday, May 19, and all day Saturday, May 20. With the feedback they received from partners after the festival’s 2022 inaugural go, organizers have been grinding away at this year’s preparations. 

The festival's launch last year, hosted by Wayfarer Coffee with co-owner Karen Bassett as its executive director, aimed to shake up the coffee industry by combining a traditional coffee expo with the vibrancy and buzz of community festivals that downtown is increasingly known for. Through this premise, organizers hoped to reach inward into the coffee industry, demonstrating how coffee shops can caffeinate the small business communities around them, as well as outward to the regional community, making the world of specialty coffee accessible. 

Tweaks to the festival’s recipe for its second year are poised to increase the number of walk-up activities available to those who do not purchase festival passes, and maximize the offerings for those who do. 

“We’re consolidating it so that everything feels more intuitive,” Bassett said. The educational offerings, accessible with a purchased pass, and the festival offerings, open to all, will each be concentrated in a specific area. 

On Saturday, openly accessible festival offerings will be concentrated at the Belknap Mill. The building will house vendors from local businesses and participating regional coffee shops and a pop-up cafe. The park at Mill Plaza will feature live music all day as well as food trucks and craft tents from local artisans. 

Educational offerings, where the festival executes its goal of folding local enthusiasts into industry programming, will be centered at the Colonial Theatre and its showrooms on Canal Street, which will be closed to vehicular traffic. The slate of workshops, hosted by industry professionals from across the Northeast, includes everything from “Barista Basics” and “Elevating Your Home Brew Experience” to “Matcha Exploration” and “Advanced Espresso.” Feedback from 2022 about this programming was that it did not sufficiently define who — whether novice or longtime barista — was intended as the audience. This year, the festival has made such designations and offered sample schedules to maximize the enjoyment of attendees.

“I really like to kind of accept that feedback and see it as an opportunity to grow next year,” rather than as anything negative, Bassett said.

Also bulking up the offerings to those who purchase a two-day festival pass will be Friday night’s block party. Last year's party inside Main Street’s Defiant Records and Craft Beer was nearly bursting it at the seams, Bassett said. This year, the Friday night welcome party will stretch the length of Canal Street. While they enjoy live music, pizza from Gusto Italian Cafe’s truck and free beer tastings from six local craft breweries, guests will be able to take full-pours purchased from Defiant or from Trillium Farm to Table out into the street.

Like last year, the festival will culminate with a latte art throwdown, where baristas from coffee shops across New England will compete, tournament-style, in their ability to create both traditional and freestyle shapes in espresso using a pitcher of steamed milk. This event, and the dozens of lattes used as canvases in the tournament, are open to the public, though passholders will get VIP seating. It will be hosted by Concord’s Revelstoke Coffee and held on the Colonial Theatre’s main stage Saturday afternoon. Last year’s winner wowed judges with an intricate seahorse design.

Taking place a week before Memorial Day weekend, the coffee festival bookends the Lakes Region’s summer tourism season with autumn’s New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival, each extending the shoulder seasons. Last year, according to Bassett, it drew 5,000 attendees.

“The feedback we got was that they couldn't believe it was the first year,” Bassett said. “So I'm hoping that that just continues to elevate it year after year after year.”

Bassett highlighted the partnerships that make the event, which began as a “passion project” for her, happen, including the city and the New Hampshire and Lakes Region tourism associations. Bassett also noted the festival is still seeking volunteers — who get free swag, workshop access and other perks. For a full schedule and tickets for the festival, visit newenglandcoffeefestival.com.