Hamburger & Hops Music Festival

We spontaneously stopped at the Hamburger & Hops Music Festival on our way to a movie in the Collection but had a couple hours to kill. We had a great burger from Scratch Food Truck, but there were many other burger vendors there. There was also good band playing some reggae or Caribbean style music at the time we were going around. It looks family friendly and only cost us $ 10 each to walk in. I didn’t get the VIP tickets but I agree that there was no reason to get VIP tickets. All the burger vendors and beverage vendors were outside the VIP area so you had to go out to get food anyways. We had lots of fun walking around the entire area and seeing some of the unique burger vendors and listening to music. With some things for kids, it could be more family friendly if they add some things in the future.

What a waste of time and $ 45. Don’t bother going unless you want an uninteresting selection of beer and an even worse assortment of food. And, if you do go next year, whatever you do, don’t pay for «VIP!» You’ve been warned.

The Hamburger and Hops Festival was one of the draws for a weekend getaway. The Collection at Riverpark is an outdoor mall of sorts with retail shops, restaurants, large movie theatres, and The Park for events. The Park lends itself nicely with grassy expanses to keep your feet happy during a festival. It also has a nice inset in the middle; perfect for concerts which the Hamburger and Hops Festival used for a few live bands during the festivities.
The first order of business was to get a hamburger for lunch. The Scratch Food Truck is a Ventura County food truck blending scratch comfort foods with the best local and seasonal ingredients. Que Rico Chile Burger is all natural Niman Ranch beef, pepper jack cheese, pickled jalapenos, and chorizo aioli. The beef patty is awesome with fresh sweet beefy flavor. The jalapenos adds a spicy pickled kick. The aioli is creamy with a hint of chorizo flavor. The bun is perfectly glazed on the outside like a brioche bun but with a deep yellow color and slightly sweet flavor on the inside reminiscent of egg bread or Hawaiian sweet bread. Rating: 4.3÷5
Coronado Brewing Company was founded by brothers Ron and Rick Chapman in 1996 in Coronada, CA. The Orange Avenue Wit is made with 2-​row, wheat, and cara malts; orange zest, orange blossom honey, coriander, Northern Brewer hop, and Cal Ale yeast. It is a light and refreshing beer with a mild citrus flavor. It’s a day drinking beer and will pair well with a lot of different foods like hamburgers, salads, pork chops, chicken, and seafood. Rating: ⁴⁄₅
The Road Brothers rocked the crowd with classic rock covers. The inset in the park made the perfect concert venue while couples and families set up camp on blankets and patio furniture setup along the perimeter. There were also bocce ball courts set up on the side for competitive play. Bocce ball in one hand and a beer in the other!
Island Brewing Company is a microbrewery from Carpinteria, CA. The Comrade Black Session IPA is the little brother of the RISistance Barrel Aged Russion Imperial Stout (Fall 2015). It’s a medium-​heavy bodied beer with a roasted chestnut aroma. It is smooth with roasted coffee and dark chocolate flavors but with a bitter bite on the end. Rating: 3.5÷5
Angus beef burger stuffed with bacon served on a brioche bun, topped off with caramelized onions, aged blue cheese, and served with tater tots was next on the list. After a very long wait, the burger was a little disappointing. The burger patty itself was dry but the flavors were pretty good. Instead of stuffing the bleu cheese inside the burger, a bleu cheese aioli would be better. The shredded lettuce on top was just messy and would not stay on the burger. A folded lettuce leaf would have been better. The tater tots were an unexpected treat that seemed to be made from sweet potatoes. They were sweet and needed just a touch of salt. Dipping sauce was not necessary. Rating: ³⁄₅
Chocolate Chip Cookie was okay. It was a little dry and expected it to be more like homemade with a chewy interior. It did have a lot of chocolate chunks inside. Rating: ³⁄₅
Upstream brought island music to the crowd. You couldn’t help but move your feet to the music and for some, dancing was inevitable. With the sunshine and the cool breeze, it felt like an island in the Caribbean, but instead of tropical drinks and seafood, hamburgers and beers were in hand.

First experience at the Hamburger and Hops music festival. Upon entering we were graciously greeted with our tasting glass and souvenir beer glass. We opted to go big and buy the VIP passes as we wanted the little extras we got, a different glass than the hops pass, 5 tasters, and a burger. Oh and a whole section to ourselves. There was supposed to be a band playing but they seemed to struggle with actually performing. The vendors were amazing. Thank you to Molly and Jess from New Hampshire, it was so nice to meet you! We spent quite a bit of time outside the VIP section to watch the main stage. Pretty decent music. I would totally go again!

Annual Festival. This year, it was on Sunday, May 3 from 11am-​5pm. Bring cash for beer. No in and out privileges.
Tickets: Located in Oxnard at the Collection. $ 10 for general admission or $ 30 for admission, 3 sliders, 1 beer, and a collectible beer glass to take home. Before the event, check to see if there is a groupon. You can pay before or pay when you arrive.
Parking: There is parking because it is located near a bunch of restaurants and shops. We took Amtrak and took a cab (about $ 15 each way). They had people who would call cabs or shuttles for you after the festival.
Security: Lots of security around. It was a safe environment. Everyone there wanted to just eat, drink, and have a good time. No one got out of hand. It had a friendly vibe.
Layout: It’s located on a grassy area. Lots of nice fountains, grass, seating, even outside couches to sit on. There is a play area for kids and we saw a lot of people who brought their children. The music stage was in the middle. They had beer stands all over and some food in the front and lots more in the back. ATMs located within the festival. There is a B of A right outside, you can just take out money there before you walk in.
Music: DJs and bands were great. They played a wide variety of music that seemed to fit the mood perfectly.
Beer Selection: You have to pay cash for beer. You have to buy beer tickets at a booth and then you use those tickets to get the beer. 4 tickets for $ 20. Firestone, Surf’s, Burt’s Honey, Island, BJ’s, Anacapa. Surf’s was probably the most popular and best tasting beer in my opinion. So good that they ran out of beer. Even if you have the souvenir pint glass, ask for your beer in a plastic cup (you’ll get a little more beer and you don’ t have to worry about dropping your cup).
Sliders and Food: You can use your tickets or pay cash. Some places took credit cards. It’s in the Sauce BBQ — very good, super fast service, the ladies serving the burgers were great! Haute Burger — Sliders were delicious (Ahi Wasabi was the best), but negative points for the wait time (we were of the first 10 people in line and waited 50 minutes for 2 sliders), they also changed their prices as we were standing in line. Blue Light Food Truck — solid Mexican food, but they ran out of asada fries :(. Busy Bees — delicious Tri-​Tip. Overall, great selection. Hula Hut’s Hawaiian Sliders — great selection of Filipino food.
Overall, it was a fun festival. Great food, great beer. What more can you ask for?

First Annual Hamburger and Hops Music Festival — there better be another one next year!
The selection of beers were adequate — I felt as if a «Hamburger & Hops» festival should have had more vendors and a few more «burgers» than they did, but it ended up being a great day at the collection. I loved the music and the amount of people that turned out, as it felt as if the community really did end up coming together.
Very fun — although it was my own fault i got sunburned haha. Can’t wait for the 2^nd Annual H&HMF!