Oskar Blues Burning Can Festival raises more than $45k for Colorado charities

Outdoor enthusiasts, craft beer aficionados, adventure sports fans and live music lovers descended on the open space in the unaffected areas of Bohn Park in Lyons, Colo., for the Burning Can Beer Festival and the Lyons Outdoor Games. It was a day filled with beautiful Colorado sunshine, great beer and an overwhelming amount of support for a community still recovering from the devastating floods that washed through the state last September.

Fifty-two innovative and can-centric breweries from across the United States gathered to create the largest and most successful Burning Can Beer Festival to-date, drawing an attendance of nearly 2,000 people under views of Rocky Mountain National Park. Oskar Blues Brewery announced on Wednesday morning that all proceeds from the festival tallied a grand total of more than $45,000 for the CAN’d Aid Foundation, all of which will be distributed to local benefactors, the Colorado Brewers Guild and the Town of Lyons Parks & Recreation Department –an organization still seeking resources to repair much of the damaged infrastructure of Lyons.

“There was an amazing vibe at the 2014 Burning Can & Lyons Outdoor Games. It was rad to see the town of Lyons, volunteers, supporting sponsors along with participating athletes and brewers come together to create something that tapped into the spirit of why we call Lyons home, while raising funds to keep that momentum rolling,” said Lyons resident and Oskar Blues Marketing Director Chad Melis.

In its 13th year, the Lyons Outdoor Games also drew crowds of people to Lyons for the pro kayaking events in the fast-moving St. Vrain River, the high-flying “Outlaws of Dirt” Jump Series, the Slackline Jam presented by Gibbon Slacklines, and a free concert featuring Interstate Stash Express and festival headliner, Anders Osborne. Osborne serenaded festival goers into the night with songs inspired by the singer-song writer’s own flood stories following Hurricane Katrina in his home of New Orleans.

As part of its national recycling initiative, the CAN’d Aid Foundation awarded the Town of Lyons a grassroots recycling grant just prior to Burning Can. The grant included ZeroHero’s signature reusable recycling stations, volunteer training and education as well as on-site support. The unique recycling tents effectively corral all recyclable materials and were used to collect an estimated 700 pounds of aluminum alone at Burning Can.

On July 5, Oskar Blues Brewery will bring the Burning CAN Beer Festival east of the Mississippi for the first time with the inaugural Burning CAN Brevard taking place at Oskar Blues’ brewery in Brevard, N.C. The festival will kick off over the July 4 weekend with a free live show on Friday night at the brewery and bike rides and a river float along with beer tasting from 30 plus canning breweries from 1-6 p.m. and live music throughout the day on Saturday.