On Sept. 30, Chelsea, Michigan, will host the third annual Backyard Beer Garden, featuring multiple Michigan breweries, local food favorites, and games for the city to enjoy.
The Backyard Beer Garden is a custom-brewed event by the Chelsea Area Chamber of Commerce.
The event began in 2019, described as a barbecue for the local community. Now in its fourth year, following a COVID-19 rebound, the event, taking place at 304 South Main St., is regarded as one of the city’s major yearly events.
Terris Ahrens, the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce Executive Director and event co-founder, described the event as a chance for everyone to hang out with the city of Chelsea and enjoy good food, drinks, and music.
“In Chelsea, we have the Sounds and Sights festival. We have music all the time all summer, so we didn’t want to put up a tent and have a band,” Ahrens said. “We wanted to do something unique. Basically, you pay five bucks, which these days is super cheap. You come in, and we have almost 20 Different games set up, food, drinks, and a DJ. People hang out and play these hilariously oversized yard games.”
Food-truck vendors will be available throughout the evening. According to Ahrens, there will be more vendors present at the event, including a host of drink vendors, confirmed vendors include Smokehouse 52 BBQ, Cake by Kaity, Thompson’s Pizza, The Grateful Crow Sushi, Awesome Dogs and Root Beer Floats by Rotary Club of Chelsea.
“Every single food vendor that we have is a resident or a local business in this area,” Ahrens said. “So this is another avenue to reach people that might not have had it before, in a different setting. At the Backyard Beer Garden, because of the interactive, transient feeling of checking out all the different games, people tend to network, meet people, and be part of something unique.”
Ahrens says the event will have between 75-100 volunteers present. Alongside presenting sponsors, The Devil’s Haircut and The Crazy Diamond, the event will also have a collection of sponsors for each game at the event.
Ahrens says the event will have between 75-100 volunteers present, and alongside presenting sponsors “The Devil’s Haircut” and “The Crazy Diamond,” the event will also have a collection of sponsors for each game at the event.
“I grew up in a town that had a lot of trouble with volunteers and having enough people to execute events of this size,” Ahrens said. “So it’s always great to see a community like Chelsea fully endorse this event.”
The Backyard Beer Garden kicks off the city of Chelsea’s Fall event schedule, which includes their “Hometown Halloween” event, which lasts for all of October, and their two-day November event, “Wine, Women, & Shopping,” which supports local business and community through unique sales for featured items and giveaways.
“There isn’t a month out of the year that you can pop into Chelsea and find something fun to do,” Ahrens said. “It’s an outdoor event for seven hours. It’s all in the name. You’re out in the garden, and we have good food, pizza, beer, and games. It really is like throwing a giant community barbecue.”
The event begins at 3 p.m. For more information on the Backyard Beer Garden, visit chelseamich.com or contact the Chamber of Commerce at 734-475-1145.
Antonio Cooper is a freelance journalist from Detroit, Michigan. His coverage of music festivals and interviews with local celebrities appeared in The E-Current Magazine, The Detroit Metro Times, XXL Magazine, RichMagDigital, The Ann Arbor Observer, and Pop Magazine.
