The Chamber of Commerce has arranged Fremont’s first annual Burger and Brew Fest for the Bay Area residents to come together and get a little taste of Downtown Fremont where they can connect, communicate, and celebrate. The event will be held this Saturday, May 23 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Liberty Street between Walnut and Capitol Avenue.

“This is the first fest. The Chamber is doing it to start bringing attention to the downtown area,” said Cindy Bonior, the CEO of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce. “As things start happening and developing we want to have an energy there.”

Bay Area craft breweries like Speakeasy Ales & Lagers from San Francisco, Sierra Nevada distributing from Oakland, and Trumer Pils from Berkeley will sample some of their beers. Other breweries like Peak Organic, Ninkasi, Hangar 24, Firestone Walker, will also be there to sample some of their bestsellers. To compliment the beer, burgers from The Counter and Whole Foods, who are launching a new tap-room bar menu, will be offered to the community.

“We are proud to be partnering with them for this launch,” said Julene Nguyen, the Marketing and Community Relations Team Leader of Whole Foods in Fremont. “Part of our mission in Fremont is to be out in the community. We always want to support the Fremont Chamber of Commerce, which has been an incredible partner for us, but our team also likes connecting with our shoppers outside the walls of the store. This is a fun and friendly way to do both of those things,”

Whole Foods will offer a menu that includes a quarter pound all Beef Burger, Portobello Burger, Grilled Cheese Melt, French Fries and Potato Chips.

Burgers and beer are not the only things people will enjoy. There will be other food vendors like Hongry Kong, Mediterranean Touch Cuisine, Yummi BBQ, and many others to offer diverse cuisine. There will be music and live entertainment from Steve Carter, Stephanie Teel, and Lara Price from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“We want people to start looking at it being aware of what’s going on, seeing the progress as it happens, and seeing how the community can fit into the new downtown,” said Bonior. “We have all kinds of opportunities for the community to be together.”

The progress of attracting residents to Downtown Fremont is being made as they hold Fremont Street Eats on Capitol Avenue every Friday night from 4:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for people from all around to participate.

Other new and returning arts and culture events like Fremont’s Farmer’s Market, Fourth of July Parade, Festival of the Arts, and the Festival of India & Parade are all hosted in the Downtown area to develop a central social culture. However, starting July 1st, road construction will begin thus Capitol Avenue must be cleared.

This event will be free to all who will attend but for those who will participate in the beer tasting, tickets will be available on the event website for a pre-sale early bird discount rate and onsite the day of the event but will be cash only. Those with a ticket will receive 12 4oz. samples.

Parking will be available around Liberty Street, a taxi station will be available on Beacon Avenue, and the Fremont Bart station is only less than two blocks away from the festival.