Kent residents rang in the summer with beer, food and warm weather on May 18 at the inaugural Kent Craft Beer Festival, hosted by the Kent Jaycees and presented by Ray’s Place. Twenty-two breweries from across Ohio came to Kent to participate.

Attendees like Greg Schmidt, 26, who drove in from Mantua, sampled craft beers from local breweries and were entertained with live music. “I think it’s great,” he said.  “It’s so hot out, but the beer’s all nice and cold. I really hope they bring it back next year.”

The Kent Craft Beer Festival is the first of its kind for the city. Among the breweries that participated were Mad Cap Brew Co., which was founded in Kent in 2011.

General admission tickets sold for $25, which included 10 drink tickets and a souvenir five-ounce glass, or a brewmaster ticket for $45, which included 10 additional drink tickets.

Other local breweries in attendance included Headtrip Brewery from Stow, McArthur’s Brew House and HiHO Brewing Co., both from Cuyahoga Falls, and Hop Tree Brewing from Hudson.

Attendees were also met with food prepared by six local businesses:

1.Bent Tree Coffee Roasters

2. Burnside Barbecue

3. Daisy Cakes

4. Erie Street Kitchen

5. Grazers

6. Roll Call Burgers and Fries

The festival was advertised to be “an environmentally friendly festival striving to lower the environmental impact though waste reduction and responsible resource management,” according to the festivals website. Dozens of recycling bins were placed around the festival and attendees were given a refillable souvenir glass rather than plastic cups.

All profits from the festival will be donated back to local community organizations through the Kent Jaycees young professional organization.

David Williams is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].