Czech Beer Fest to bring brews to Berwyn

BERWYN – Many toasts of "na zdravil," pronounced "nahz drah vee," will be heard April 29 as the Czech Beer Fest returns to Berwyn.

The third annual beer fest will be from noon to midnight at Sokol Tabor Hall, 1602 Clarence Ave. It is a fundraiser for multiple Czech organizations, said Greg Gorski Jr., spokesman for the Chicagoland Czech-American Community Center in Berwyn.

Organizers are the community center and the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Chicago. Partners include Sokol Tabor, Sokol Stickney, Sokol Spirit in Brookfield, the Prague Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International, downtown Chicago restaurant Bohemian House, Chicago Bohemian theater Divadlo Bohemia and Bohemian Wings Travel.

To enter, adults age 21 and older must buy a $25 beverage bundle that includes one 25-ounce souvenir beer mug, one full pour of beer and two Czech spirit tastings. Additional beers cost $7 each, Gorski said. Children will be admitted free.

The Czech beers are Pilsner Urquell, Bernard, Czechvar, Praga and Brouczech. The spirits are R. Jelinek’s Moravian plum brandy and Becherovka, an herbal liqueur.

The bundles only are available at the door – not in advance – and attendees can pay with cash or credit card, said Judith Soulides, president of Sokolice Tabor, a group at Sokol Tabor.Also being sold will be items with the fest logo on them, such as T-shirts and shot glasses, and food and beverages, such as hot dogs, sausages, goulash, pretzels and assorted baked goods, she said. Drawings also will be held.

Music will be provided by Euroband, who does a mix of rock cover songs; Jan Vancura and Plavci, a popular pop group from the Czech Republic that originally was The Rangers; Czechs in America, a Czech rock band; and Jiří Drnek & Tonemasters and Czechoslovak Musicians Club, who play polkas, Gorski said. Children’s entertainment will be a magician and marionettes.

The first two Czech Beer Fests also were at Sokol Tabor, but they were held only in the basement, not on two floors like this year, he said.

Borek Lizec, consul general of the Czech Republic in Chicago, said his friend Ted Polashek, president of the Czech-American Community Center and city of Berwyn alderman, had the idea to organize an annual beer fest.

“The first two years, I was helping in the project. This year I decided to become more fully involved (with the community center) and make it a bigger festival,” said Lizec, whose jurisdiction includes states going as far west as Nebraska, Kansas and North and South Dakota.

“Beer has been a big part of Czech culture,” he said, noting two major Czech-Bohemian breweries – Pilsen Brewing Company and Atlas Brewery – were founded here.

As part of Czech Beer Fest, Bohemian House in Chicago will serve a special evening menu to complement the beverage selection on April 27 and 28. A special evening with Jan Vancura and Plavci at 7:30 p.m. May 3 at the Ambassador Public House in Chicago will close the program.

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If you go

What: Czech Beer Fest

When: noon to midnight April 29

Where: Sokol Tabor Hall, 1602 Clarence Ave., Berwyn

Cost: $25 for adults, free for children

Info: chicagocacc.org