Craft beer festival in Citrus Heights among new events planned in Sunrise MarketPlace

Updated Jan. 28, 6:04 a.m.–
By Thomas J. Sullivan– The Sunrise Mall parking lot at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Greenback Lane will be transformed into an outdoor beer festival this summer, with Sunrise MarketPlace’s inaugural “Brews in the Burbs” event.

The festival is slated to take place on Saturday, June 8, from 5 to 9 p.m. and is one of the first significant public events celebrating the 20th anniversary of Sunrise MarketPlace, a business improvement district made up of more than 400 businesses in the commercial corridor near Sunrise Mall. News of the upcoming festival is already posted on the Sunrise MarketPlace Facebook page although a formal public announcement hasn’t yet been made, said MarketPlace spokesperson Julie DePrada.

Related: Plans dissolve for new pop-up stadium at Sunrise Mall

DePrada said plans call for the parking lot to be turned into a backyard hangout to showcase craft breweries in the Northern California area. The event will feature craft beer tastings, live music, food trucks and backyard games.

Setup and security for the beer festival will be similar to that of past outdoor concerts at Sunrise Marketplace. The “Brews in the Burbs” festival will be held in partnership with Beers in Sac, a beer festival scheduling company in Sacramento.

Brews in the Burbs will be a 21-and-over event, DePrada said. Tickets will go on sale to the public in early February, at a price to be finalized shortly. Proceeds from the event will go to the Citrus Heights Rotary Club.

“I’m excited to see the public response to this festival. We’re hoping it will be an annual event people will want to keep coming back to,” she said.

The Sunrise MarketPlace also holds a popular holiday season “Magical Moments” event series, which began in 2017. Recent events included a Holiday Laser Light Show in the parking lot at Lowe’s, a Nutcracker Ballet performance inside Sunrise Mall and a “Winterfest” event at Sunrise Village.

Editor’s note: This story was written by Thomas J. Sullivan, who has joined the Citrus Heights Sentinel as a general assignment reporter. Sullivan moved to Citrus Heights in August 2018 from Pacifica, Calif., and is a former reporter turned classroom teacher. Sullivan will be working the small business and commercial real estate beat, as well as writing feature stories.

Since leaving the Bay Area, Sullivan says he’s thoroughly enjoying getting to know the community here. In addition to his reporting duties, Sullivan is also an active substitute teacher in the San Juan Unified School District. He has taught history and social science in the middle and high school levels.

He has written for business and legal weekly newspapers including the Arizona Business Gazette, San Diego Business Journal and San Diego Daily Transcript in his professional writing career. The enlisted Navy veteran of the 1991 Gulf War earned his B.A. degree in journalism in 1978 from the University of Rhode Island.

We welcome Thomas to the staff of the Citrus Heights Sentinel and sincerely thank our subscribers for making this possible.