GURNEE, IL – The Legions of Craft Beer Fest will host its fourth annual fundraiser for local veterans organizations on Saturday, September 15th, 2018 at Gurnee Mills (outside Entrance E) from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The festival started in 2015 as a fundraising opportunity for the Gurnee American Legion Post 771 and the Lake County Honor Flight. The first three years of the event raised over $75,000 for the two organizations.

Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik is excited for another big year in 2018. “The Legions of Craft Beer Fest is an opportunity for local organizations and attendees to come together to support our Lake County veterans organizations” said Mayor Kovarik. “This year we will have even more local craft breweries, a great variety of food trucks, and we will hopefully raise even more money for our local veterans.”

The 2018 Legions of Beer Fest will feature over 80 different beers from a wide variety of brewers. Returning breweries include hometown Only Child Brewing (Gurnee, IL), ZumBier (Waukegan IL), and major national brewers like Lagunitas (Petaluma, CA). New this year will be breweries such as recently opened Harbor Brewing (Winthrop Harbor, IL), highlighting the growing number of Lake County breweries.

In addition to the traditional local and national craft breweries, the 2018 Legions of Craft Beer Fest will be expanding to feature more home breweries. The Fest will feature beers from BABBLE Home Brewers of Lake County, Nightshade and Dark’s (Waukegan, IL), 9th Hour Brewing (Lake Villa, IL), and Beerpath Brewing (Lindenhurst, IL).

There are two ticket types for festival goers. General Admission includes a customized Beer Fest sampling glass, 20 sample tickets, and unlimited access to all live music. There is also a Designated Driver ticket that includes the free glass and access to live music, food trucks and unlimited water/soda in lieu of sample tickets.

Live music will be featured with headliner the GOOROOS, a high-energy dance rock band that plays festivals all over the Chicago and Milwaukee area.

Guests will also be able to access five food trucks selling a wide variety of gourmet options. This year’s lineup includes returning Mothers TruckN Good Food, as well as new additions like Killer Zombie Dawgz, BBQ’d Productions, Your Sister’s Tomato, and Nothing Bundt Cakes.

All proceeds benefit the American Legion Post 771 and Lake County Honor Flight.

Tickets and further information can be found at www.gurneelegionsofbeer.com

For questions on the event, contact the Village of Gurnee at 847-599-7500.

ABOUT THE LEGIONS OF CRAFT BEER FEST: The Legions of Craft Beer Fest is a true community effort created in support of the Gurnee American Legion and Lake County Honor Flight. The Fest, originally conceived by Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik, includes participation from a number of major Gurnee community members including the Village of Gurnee, Gurnee Mills, Timothy O'Toole's Pub, 102.3 XLC, the Lake County Honor Flight and the Gurnee American Legion. In addition to raising funds to support veterans' causes, the Fest strives to offer a one-of-a-kind experience for craft beer enthusiasts by offering unique and hard-to-find beers typically not seen in the Chicagoland area.

ABOUT THE GURNEE AMERICAN LEGION POST 771: The Gurnee American Legion is Gurnee's local post of the American Legion. It focuses on completing projects in line with the Legion's four founding principles (Service to Veterans, the Care and Education of Children, Americanism and a Strong National Defense) while also providing veterans with opportunities to connect with each other, serve fellow veterans and foster and perpetuate the ideals which made this country great. Membership is open to all current veterans, and the public is welcome to visit the Post's bar and rent its hall. For more information, see the Post's website.

ABOUT THE LAKE COUNTY HONOR FLIGHT: Lake County Honor Flight is the local branch of the greater Honor Flight organization, which is dedicated to ensuring that veterans can visit Washington DC and see the memorials and monuments dedicated to their service. Honor Flight strives to fly and escort these veterans to these sites at no cost. For more information, see their website.

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