Oskar Blues Brewery’s Burning CAN Fest burns bright

Crush, CAN’d Aid’s Crush it Crusader, has come to earth to teach us about recycling (and we assume) sweet robot dance moves.

Oskar Blues Brewery’s 2015 Burning CAN Beer Fest was an epic day for outdoor enthusiasts, craft beer aficionados, adventure sports fans and live music lovers to soak up the Colorado sunshine and revel in good times. Throughout the day, festival goers enjoyed an all can beer fest, watched the Lyons Outdoor Games, participated in the first-ever Beer Relay and grooved to free music by the New Orleans based band the Revitalists.

“Each year, the crowd and vibe just gets better than the last. After a month of steady rain, we got lucky and had the first full day of Colorado sunshine in a long time — which brought people out in full force. It was great to see everyone getting down on the craft beers, watching the Outlaws of Dirt huck through the air and grooving to the Revitalists on the main stage at the end of the night,” said Lyons resident and Oskar Blues marketing director Chad Melis.

The Lyons Outdoor Games also drew crowds of people to Lyons for the pro kayaking events in the fast-moving St. Vrain river, the high-flying “Outlaws of Dirt” Jump Series, the Slackline Jam presented by Slackline Industries and a free concert featuring Interstate Stash Express and festival headliner, the Revitalists. The Revivalists brought the jam and NOLA- filled funk to Colorado and threw down with a high-energy that kept people boogying.

Adding even more excitement to the day, the first ever Beer Relay made its launch. More than 50 teams of two or more ran a 5K trail course, relay-style, in the Rocky Mountain foothills, completing as many laps as they could in the allotted time. For extra booziness, runners could elect to drink a 12-ounce Oskar Blues beer before their lap to earn a two-minute deduction from the lap time. It was a sweat-filled, beer-filled relay not for the faint of heart.

As part of its national recycling initiative, the CAN’d Aid Foundation’s Crush it Crusade was out in full force for the day. Crush, CAN’d Aid’s Crush it Crusader, made his inaugural debut at Burning Can. This 12-foot-tall, lean, mean, recycling machine is made out of scrap metal and upcycled bicycle parts, was crafted by local artist Amanda Willshire (Awd aRT) and is part of an effort to collect and recycle cans from the all CAN beer fest. In all, over 800 pounds of waste were diverted from landfills and recycled for the day! In addition, CAN’d Aid recycling tents were in use for the second year running, providing the Town of Lyons with the capacity to recycle and divert waste throughout the day.

On July 17-18, Oskar Blues Brewery will bring the brews, music and outdoor hoopla to Burning CAN at Reeb Ranch in Hendersonville, N.C. More than 55 breweries are ready to crack their cans, while camping and a killer lineup of live music awaits. A free concert at REEB Ranch on Friday evening, July 17, will be kicked off by progressive Southern rockers Porch 40 and headlined by local funk faves, Yo Mama’s Big Fat Booty Band.