To highlight the city’s rich coffee culture, the San Francisco Coffee Festival is held annually to bring together coffee enthusiasts, roasters, and baristas from all over the Bay Area for an immersive weekend of tasting, brewing, and talking about coffee.
The festival is held at the Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture and attracts thousands of attendees over the course of two days. This year, the festival celebrated its eighth anniversary with an event featuring over 50 coffee roasters, many with unique blends, roasting and brewing methods, and a slew of food and merchandise vendors.
“There’s a lot of variety. There’s a little bit of everything. There’s tea, there’s chai, there’s coffee. So overall, it’s a great event,” said Sev Bastilyan, an attendee of the festival.
Aside from tasting various types of coffee, people could also participate in “coffee convos,” listen to live music, and even join in a latte art competition. But of course, the main event attracted the majority of attendees, with the ability to try new styles of coffee or indulge in old favorites.
“Going out of our way to try espresso or coffee plain has been really interesting. I think we don’t really have the opportunity to try such high-quality coffee, and this has been really informative and fun,” said Chloe Szeto, another attendee.
All of the stands at the festival are run by local roasteries, each with its unique story, goals, and values. Many stands brought immense popularity, with lines extending throughout the building. Once at the front of the line, people could taste coffee and learn about each company’s foundation and unique coffee production process from workers.
“I’m a coffee fanatic. I really like coffee. The festival is a great way to get to know some of the roasters. You won’t get this opportunity anywhere else,“ Bastilyan said.
Many of the roasteries use the festival as a way to increase their customer base and connect with community members. Additionally, because many businesses are nonprofits, the event is a perfect opportunity to expand their business to meet their goals.
One roastery, Hero Coffee, is a nonprofit created in response to wildfires in Napa. They work on a volunteer basis and donate every dollar they make towards their service project. Because of their business goals, they feel events like this are significant for growing their business.
“We’ve run into some people that know us, that have gone to our trailer. It’s just fun to build a community here. That’s really the main goal for us,” said Carlo Bartalotti, a worker at Hero Coffee.
Another roastery that was featured at the event is a nonprofit that employs refugees as a way to help them find work. Participating in the festival allows them to share and implement their values with other coffee roasteries and customers.
“The main thing is just first to connect with customers so more people to know about us and who we are, especially because of the mission that we have and being able to spread that,” said Doug Hewigt, the co-founder of 1951 Coffee. “We’ve partnered with a lot of the coffee companies that are here to help people find jobs, so it’s really important for us to be a part of this.”
The coffee festival brings a sense of community to both roasteries and attendees and provides a unique experience for both parties.
After tasting various varieties of coffee at the end of the festival, Bastilyan could decide which roastery was his favorite based on his preferred style of coffee.
“Usually, I like my coffee to have a little bit more acidity. I don’t like medium roast or dark roast, but so far, the best one (roastery) is definitely Voyager,” Bastilyan said.
