A few weeks ago, one of my friends had marked that they were interested in attending the Book Fair at Inbound Brewco. I’m all for supporting local bookstores and I’m a beer drinker, so the event sounded like it would be fun. On top of that, it’s cold in Minnesota this time of the year, so it’s nice to have something to go do inside. The event happened this past Saturday and I was excited to see how many people showed up for this event.

Me and my friend drove downtown which is where Inbound is. As we approached, there was horrendous traffic everywhere. I haven’t seen traffic like this unless it’s a sporting event such as the Twins or the Vikings playing. I knew immediately that this would be people who wanted to attend the Book Fair. We drove away from the traffic and parked several blocks away which worked well. We walked several blocks and approached the brewery to see a massive line! The line was out the door, all the way down the street, turning left and down a side street. Me and my friend were committed, we already paid to park and had friends we were meeting up with, so we ventured to the back of the line.

One thing I always appreciate about a situation like this is meeting new people. I have stood in long lines at conventions and always ended up chatting with those around me. There was a woman and her friend behind us who would jump into our conversation every now and then. We found out that we were reading the same book and would chat about the various books we liked to read. It gives me a sense of community that we are all united in attending this event because of our love for local businesses and books. After an hour and forty-five minutes of waiting, we were ushered into the tap room.

I’m not complaining about the wait time to get into the brewery. I’m not an event planner and I could never be an event planner. I have massive respect for event planners for this reason. I think the brewery did not anticipate this many attendees which is why the line was so long. Inbound is one of my favorite breweries, but it’s not big enough to handle this event. However, if the event were in summer, it wouldn’t have been as big of a deal to wait. Me and my friends were not dressed for the weather. My feet were freezing and I should have worn fleece socks. I didn’t bring gloves and trying to call friends and let them know where we were in line did not help. I’m choosing to focus on the positive things about this event which is how exciting it is to see this many people show up. It was fun to chat with different people and be in the atmosphere. After the event, I drove home and didn’t talk to anyone for the rest of the day. I felt I had too much social interaction and needed to recharge my social battery.

With that said, I’m happy I went. Me and my friends survived the cold together. I would attend an event like this in the future, but knowing how popular this event would be, I don’t think I would attend again in January.