This summer Huntington is bringing a new ‘hop’ to the typical summer festival. Tickets for the third annual Rails and Ales craft beer show is sold out for a second consecutive summer. The Rails and Ales festival will start August 15 and will be at Harris Riverfront Park.

This festival is one of the few taking place during the inaugural West Virginia Craft Beer Week. Governor Tomblin is hoping to boost tourism with the passing of the Senate Bill 273 that allows local breweries to distribute growlers, or specialty bottles across the state. The bill always allows breweries to hold tastings and samples in restaurants and at festivals.

The Better Beer Coalition organizes the Rails and Ales Festival. The mission behind the festival is to promote and create a culture that makes craft beer accessible to the public and other breweries.

The location of the festival has moved to Harris Riverfront Park to accommodate for the large crowd. This venue can hold up to 3,000 people. With the past sell outs of the Rails and Ales festival, there was an additional 1,000 tickets put up for sale.

The festival features live music, local food and craft beers from around the state of West Virginia, across the United States an even international brews.

There will be more than over 100 breweries at the Ales and Rails Festival. Some of the breweries include Country Boy, Duvel, Greenbrier Valley, Cerveceria Mexicana and Blackwater Brewing.

Local restaurants such as Black Sheep Burrito & Brews, The Bodega, Chickpeas and other local favorites will provide food for the event.

The festival starts August 15 at noon. for the VIP ticket holders, and the general admission gates will open at 1 p.m. All ticket holders must be 21 and older.

Shalee Rogney can be reached at [email protected].