Whether they came to imbibe regional brews or salivate over sleek classic vehicles, visitors to Tryon Saturday, Nov. 9 found a feast in the Tryon Beer Festival and Tryon Rolling Art Show.

“We really grew the festival this year,” organizer Shelly Block said of the second annual Tryon Beer Fest. “It definitely generated more money that will go into the TDDA general fund for projects and I think the community spirit surrounding the festival is what made it successful.”

About 700 tickets were sold this year to those interested in sampling regional craft beers amidst the beautiful fall colors in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. That number rose dramatically from the 450 people that attended last year’s inaugural event.

Running in conjunction with the Tryon Beer Fest was the Rolling Art Show, which included 72 cars, 29 motorcycles and five trucks. The brainchild of Erin and Corey Thompson, the Rolling Art Show invited automobile enthusiasts to show off their prized possessions. It started with a handful of people who love classic cars and fast bikes and grew to about a dozen organizers.

The idea was to attract the really unique car and car owner – people with real stories behind the vehicles they loved and who had put passion into restoring them.

“The variety was much greater last year,” said one of the organizers Kathy Wright. “There was everything from a 1934 restored Royals Royce to a 1948 Greyhound bus converted to a motorhome.”

A People’s Choice award garnered 300 votes giving Wright and others an idea of the total crowd filling Tryon’s streets this weekend.

“We got to town really early, about 7 a.m., to start the car show and people coming later said they couldn’t find anywhere to park because the town was packed,” Wright said. “It was a really great showing for Tryon.”

The car show awarded the best in show award to a 1951 pickup truck. Wright said it grabbed attention for the shear attention to detail and quality workmanship placed in its restoration. Five or six Ferraris also caught quite a few eyes but ended up splitting their votes.

“One of the most unique motorcycles you would ever see, a Triumph Hurricane was at the show, but didn’t win because I don’t think people understood enough about how truly interesting it was,” Wright said.

This was a no-fee show, which organizers said they believed helped bring out so many more people to participate. Participants received T-shirts and samples for being involved.

“It was fun to say this was just pure fun,” Wright said. “We are planning to do it again next year as well. It was great to be on the same day as the beer fest and to market those together.”

Block said beer fest organizers met multiple visitors from other states – Tennessee and Virginia to name a couple.

“It was great to see that and hopefully next year we’ll reach out even further beyond our state to the surrounding region and draw people into Tryon,” she added. “We’d like to grow the event to about 1,000 people next year.”

One of the new features this year was the use of armbands to allow guests to leave and reenter the festival. Block said committee members wanted visitors to have the freedom of lingering around town and exploring Tryon beyond the Depot Plaza.

This allowed for many guests to peruse shops, visit other spots throughout Tryon and even eat at one of the local restaurants if German food or pizza wasn’t what their stomachs craved. A menu board posted at the beer fest even gave attendees an idea of what foods might await them beyond event parameters.

Encouraging the use of local businesses was at the heart of the festival’s mission, Block added. She said committee members made a point of selecting as many local vendors as was feasible for the purchase of items such as T-shirts and printed materials.

Block said it should be any festival’s goal to improve year after year. Therefore the beer fest committee is open to suggestions face to face or via email through tryonbeerfest.com.