Petting zoos and booze, Brew at the Zoo returns to Potawatomi Zoo
SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- South Bend Venues Parks and Arts kicked off theirs 5th annual Best Week Ever Saturday at Potawatomi Zoo for Brew at the Zoo!
Brew at the Zoo returned bigger and better this year; over 1,000 tickets were sold for adults to sample local brews, see zoo animals, and visit the renovated zoo they grew up going to.
“It’s just one of our traditions here at the zoo, it’s our brew at the zoo!” says Josh Sisk, Executive Director of Potawatomi Zoo.
“Brew at the zoo is so much fun,” says Amy Burris, a Brew at the Zoo visitor.
The special drink sampling event gives adults the chance to enjoy the zoo in a different way.
“It’s kind of nice as adults to see when you’re not taking the kids or grandkids around,” Burris says.
Visitors got to walk through the entire zoo and sample brews from about 30 local breweries.
“The best thing that we had was the Studebaker Brewing Company, they have a tri-sour-tops beer that’s kind of a mix between a beer and a wine,” says Burris.
Not only did guests get to see and pet many of the zoo animals but they are also helping them out too!
“These are all fundraising events that we do to help feed the animals, and basically help with our operations,” says Sisk.
For some, Brew at the Zoo was a chance to revisit the zoo they grew up going to and relive some of those childhood memories.
“We’re getting a group of people out to the zoo that maybe haven’t been to the zoo since they were a kid, and it’s just been fun seeing ‘Oh my gosh I haven’t seen these changes, I haven’t seen the giraffe, I haven’t seen this carousel’”, Sisk says. “It’s just neat that people are getting to see the zoo for the first time, maybe since some of their childhood memories.”
Brew at the Zoo was just the first of many fun events in the lineup for South Bend’s Best Week Ever.