Good news for those who can’t wait for the Somewhat North of Boston Film Festival to begin: Early events start today with a Concord beer hunt.
As part of a new strategy for the 15th annual festival, nine days of music, short films, food and drink are planned in the lead-up to the main events run Nov. 11 to 13, Executive Director Jay Doherty said.
When festival organizers showed a slew of films throughout the day at Red River Theatres and then threw an after-party at night, they found that “sometimes people are burned out after watching films all day,” Doherty said.
So this year there’s a new spin. Each day from today to Nov. 11, there will be concerts, films, beer tastings and special food offerings at locations throughout the city, instead of the official after-parties.
The first event – a beer hunt – begins today, offering prizes to those who finish the challenge. To do so, participants will need to visit four restaurants – Area 23, The Barley House, Penuche’s Ale House and True Brew Barista – and try at least four beers from nine participating local breweries.
Bartenders at each restaurant will sign off on record-keeping coasters, which need to be turned in to Red River Theatres by Nov. 10 for their owners to be eligible for prizes from the participating breweries.
“One part of the festival is to highlight Concord and to highlight good beer,” Doherty said, “and this is a way to do both.”
Complete details, as well as a schedule of each day’s events, can be found at snobfilmfestival.com/event
schedule.
There’s also a special brew that Rockingham Brewing Co. created just for the festival, called Final Cut, that will be available at each of those four restaurants starting Friday, Doherty said. It’s a chocolate raisin porter, he said, as a play on the classic movie snack Raisinets.
In addition to its SNOB moniker, the festival will also be called New England Indie Fest this year, Doherty said, as a reflection of its expanding focus beyond just films.
A full list of films and events can be found at snobfilmfestival.com.
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at
@NickBReid.)