I attended the Beer on the Bridge Festival this past Saturday, and I was very disappointed to find that it was poorly planned considering the beer vendors ran out of beer at an hour and 15 minutes into the event. And they were definitely not handing out any refunds.

I think it was for a great cause and was an excellent idea, but I think everyone left there feeling like they had been ripped off.

I just wish they would have gotten it right because it could have been a really cool thing.

I think someone owes the attendees an apology or some sort of restitution.

Jeff Ross
Weldon Drive
jross1981@yahoo.com

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Saturday's "Beer on the Bridge" event on the Walnut Street bridge had the potential to something great like "Wine Over Water," but instead was largely a disappointment due to poor planning.

The event's website claims that guests will be able to sample "more than 150 different varieties of beers from around the world." In reality, most people were lucky to try five.

The event was supposed to last from 4:00 until 7:00, but almost every single tent had run out of beers by 5:00.

We overheard one booth saying that they had only brought 12 cases of beer for the entire three hours. For my $25 entrance fee, I probably ended up with 1 1/2 bottles worth of beer.

Based on the number of people I saw who had either purchased tickets locally or online, I would say that most people had purchased their tickets in advance rather than waiting to buy them at the gate.

Surely there was a way for the event planners to look at how many tickets had been sold and realize that the "beer-to-people" ratio was way too low.

G. Lyons
glyons@bellsouth.net

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My husband and I were so looking forward to the Beer on the Bridge festival Saturday afternoon. We purchased our tickets in advance online, my thinking was that it could possibly sell out. Obviously this was not the case, as it seems like they didn't have any handle on how many tickets they were selling verses the beer they had available.

When we first got there, I was thinking, wow, how can they continue selling tickets with this number of people already? We then proceeded to sample a couple of different beers, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to move around on that bridge, much less enjoy ourselves like we expected to be able to do.

For something that cost us $50 together, and was supposed to last from 4-7 p.m., we were leaving at about 5:30 as everyone was out of beer. $50 may not seem like much to some, but for us it's a hefty price to pay for what probably totaled a couple of beers each.

I was sorely disappointed and could not believe how unorganized the whole thing seemed. We attended this same festival two or so years ago when it first started, and had a great time and could not wait for the next one. One thing I still don't understand: why did they have enough cups to continue to sell tickets, but not enough beer? They didn't seem to be running out of those.

Nicole Reed
Nlillard@unum.com

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The Beer on the Bridge Festival this past Saturday was definitely a rip off. I also paid the $25 online fee, showed up around 5, and only got to sample the equivalent of maybe one beer before all vendors were out.

I agree we all deserve an apology if not a refund.

Kari Durm
Red Bank

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I was also very disappointed by Beer on the Bridge. My boyfriend and I arrived at about 4:20 and had to wait in line for tickets for approximately 20 minutes. If you did not buy your tickets ahead of time, they were $30 a piece instead of $25. So we got to sample beers for about 20 or 30 minutes before everyone was totally out of beer. So we spent $60 to drink about a beer and a half each while being very crowded and barely able to move the whole time.

We could not believe that everyone had ran out of beer so quickly. The event was supposed to last until 7 p.m. It was a total rip off.

On my way to work on Monday morning, I was listening to the radio and one of the DJs said that people kept calling in and complaining about a certain "event" that went on over the weekend. He wouldn't even say that it was Beer on the Bridge, though it was obvious. He then said that the radio station was not affiliated with the event and that there was no reason to call them about it and that people should try and remember that it was for charity.

I listen to them discuss local and national issues constantly, but they can't even say the name of this event or discuss it on the air with their audience that clearly wanted to discuss it. I don't understand the reason to be so hush hush about it. Also, I'm glad that it was for a charity but that doesn't excuse the total failure of the event.

Lindsay Wood
Red Bank
lnzwood@hotmail.com

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Four of us drove from Atlanta to Chattanooga Saturday morning hoping to have some fun at Beer on the Bridge. We booked rooms and got our tickets well in advance. Little did we know that we could have driven back to Atlanta Saturday evening since nobody gets drunk off two beers at $25 a piece.

This was the biggest rip off. Two different vendors told me they brought 12 cases of beer. For what, 2,500 people?

I don’t mind giving to charity but I could have mailed them a check. Poor planning.

I still can’t figure out why there were no bathrooms on the bridge. If you were stuck in the middle of the bridge you had to walk all the way out.

They should call it Beer on the Riverfront next time. There’s much more room below the bridge.

Beer from around the world? I’m pretty sure I saw a Miller tent.

Geoff Russell
Alpharetta, Ga.
Gatitan1@comcast.net