Everybody hail to the Pumpkin Song: After a successful, sold-out premiere in late November, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” Beer Festival aboard the Queen Mary will continue for two more weeks, allowing patrons to experience three hours of unlimited brew pours amid the visuals of the Tim Burton classic.
With official dates set for Dec. 14, 15, 21 and 22, the Grand Salon of Her Majesty and Catalina Cruises will be transformed into Burton’s famed creation known as Halloween Town while 20 different beers from local crafters will be served, focusing on pumpkin, winter, and holiday ales.
The crew behind the transformation are no strangers to simulating pop culture in the name of beer: Rockstarbeer, the crew behind the event, has been known to create massive productions revolving around beer—like their sold-out Harry Potter beer festivals in San Diego that included everything from Snape’s Cider Potions to appropriately alcoholic Butter Beer.
“When you go to a regular beer fest, you’re going around tasting beer-to-beer—there’s really not much else going on,” said Ryan Wieczorek, marketing director at Rockstarbeer. “For our festivals, we like to focus intensely on the entertainment side of it all. We want to entertain people the whole time. This way, they’re not just getting beer; they’re partying with the people they love in the culture they love.”
Captain Jack Skellington will act as host at the event (photo opportunity included) while a band known as The Skeleton Sisters will be singing everything from “This Is Halloween” to “The Oogie Boogie Song.” Speaking of which, patrons will also be able to participate in some karaoke action with Oogie Boogie himself.
Tickets for The Nightmare Before Christmas Beer Festival range from $42 to $46 and can be purchased by clicking here. The Queen Mary is located at 1126 Queens Highway. Catalina Cruises is located at 1046 Queens Highway.
Brian Addison is a columnist and editor for the Long Beach Post. Reach him at [email protected] or on social media at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.