27th Annual Madison County Hop Fest

ANNUAL MADISON COUNTY HOP FEST

September 16, 2023                

CELEBRATE WITH US!
The Madison County Hop Fest celebrates the past, present, and prosperous future of the hop industry in Madison County and throughout NYS.

The Madison County Hop Fest celebrates over 200 years of hop heritage that began in Madison County. In Madison County, James Coolidge from New England planted the 1st commercial hop yard on acres of farmland in Bouckville. He was also the first to transport hops to the New York City market in 1816. Thus, establishing a commercial agricultural connection between the hop fields of CNY and the agricultural commodity marketplace. (Cultural Resource Survey of Hop Heritage Sites in Madison County. Nell Ziegler, 2007. A survey funded by Preserve New York, a grant program of the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts.) Many Madison County farmers followed in Coolidge’s footsteps turning over their fields into commercial hop yards as did the farmers from neighboring counties- Montgomery, Schoharie, Chenango, Otsego, Herkimer, and Oneida. The Madison County Hop Fest is a signature event for Madison County and New York State, as there are no other fests that can make the historic claim that New York State’s Hop Heritage began in their county. The Preservation Association of Central New York awarded the Madison County Historical Society the 2021 CNY Heritage Award in recognition of the Annual Madison County Hop Fest.

2023 LINEUP: Madison County Hop Fest, September 16, 1:00 - 5:30 pm on the grounds of the Madison County Historical Society

The Annual Madison County Hop Fest will feature a hop exhibit, a hop shop, vendors selling hop-related merchandise, raffles, food trucks, music, and of course a sampling of a variety of craft beer (2:00- 5:30 pm).

Food trucks: Brake from the Grind and Tacocat

Music: The Pomeranians  (2:00 pm- 5:30 pm) 

Participating Breweries (so far): listing will be posted shortly

There is no admission to attend the Madison County Hop Fest. Tickets are required for the Craft Beer Sampling, from 2:00- 5:30 pm, and are $35 advance/$45 at the door.  This is a 21 year of age event. Proper ID is required.  Attendees receive a complimentary 5 oz. souvenir glass.

Tickets can be purchased on our website, www.madisoncountyhopfest.org, at the Madison County Historical Society and at Kraig's Kegs in Sherrill. Tickets go on sale in late July/early August.

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Join us on the MCHS grounds earlier in the day on September 16 for a hop heritage program led by Al Bullard, who will take his post in the Carriage Barn at the Bittersweet: Hop Culture in Central New York exhibit. Bullard, the author of The Hop Farmer’s Year: The Seasons, Tools & Methods of Hop Growers in New York State’s Golden Age of Hops, will identify tools and equipment from specific manufacturing locations in Madison, Oneida, Otsego, and Schoharie counties. Bullard earned his B.S. in history from Lebanon Valley College and his M.A. in Folklife Studies and Museum Management from the Cooperstown Graduate Program of the State University of New York at Oneonta. His interest in hops began in graduate school and since then he has collected the stories, tools, and artifacts of New York’s hop heritage. He has written extensively on the subject, given lectures, and participated in seminars and Hop Fests. Bullard is a retired teacher from Cooperstown Central School. Bullard was crowned Madison County Hop King in 2002. Copies of his book will be available for sale.

The tradition of promoting the art of craft brewing and the influence of the hop industry on New York State continues at the Madison County Hop Fest. Proceeds from the Hop Fest support the educational programming at the Madison County Historical Society, a nonprofit organization that operates both a museum and the Mary King Research Library. The Historical Society’s headquarters are housed in an 1849 Gothic Revival Villa that is listed on the State and National Registry of Historic Places. If you would like to help support the Historical Society by becoming a sponsor, please contact Sydney at  sydney@mchs1900.org.

This year’s Madison County Hop Fest is made possible by the most generous support from The Gorman Foundation.