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Just like featured last year, Whiskey in the Cloud will feature dozens of whiskey brands and other spirit manufacturers, along with live bands and other local entertainment. FILE PHOTO
Are you over 21? Do you enjoy whiskey, and talking to those who make some of the most unique brands of it?
If you said “Yes” to both, you have plans in downtown St. Cloud Saturday, March 2.
Whiskey In The Cloud, along New York Avenue from 10th to 12th Street, is an event that celebrates craft distillers. Starting at 6 p.m. (VIP ticket holders can get in at 5 p.m.) through last call at 9 p.m., taste from dozens of spirits and enjoy live music and entertainment.
This is the second installment of the event. Last year’s inaugural Whiskey in the Cloud was originally scheduled for November 2022 to kick off the holiday season, but hurricanes that pushed the downtown streetscape project back, which makes this now a March event— and Dana Wells, who runs Levee Liquors and Gas on 192, who puts on the event. And it was fate, Wells said.
“March is actually good, it serves as an economic catalyst in the springtime, far enough after the holidays and right between Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day,” she said.
If you come for the spirits, stay for the equally-warm entertainment. Local favorite Kenyon Lockry will open on the Jack Daniels stage, making way for recording artist Tommy Townsend— who just happens to own Grandaddy Mimms Moonshine out of Georgia.
“He called, wanted to be one of the featured brands, and said, ‘I’m gonna come down and do a set,” Wells said. “We’re really excited.”
Steven Caldwell and the Midnight Drifters are back to lend their Southern soul, country, rock and blues.
In between, local troupe Theatre in the Cloud will present Dramatically Distilled, “roaming libationary tall tales and limericks in Irish style.”
“We’re so excited about that, it will slow people down and enjoy it that much more,” Wells said.
This year’s event features 40 tents with 60 brands represented—and attendees will be able to vote for their favorites.
“We had brands calling us to get on the ticket this year (after last year’s event),” Wells said. “People really enjoyed the educational piece and talking to the brand folks, and those folks enjoyed talking about the process of making it. Some people thought it would just be a drinking event, but everybody involved came away very happy.”
St. Cloud Chamber ambassadors will be selling drinks and snacks, with the proceeds going to the Education Foundation Scholarship Fund, the event’s beneficiary. Some downtown eateries will offer grab-and-go food options as well.
“We’re able to do more for them with the Chamber’s help.”
General admission tickets start at $55 for an evening of fun in downtown St. Cloud. VIP ticket holders get early access to the event in a special VIP area, and have access to limited edition spirits specially made for those ticket holders. Also included is a bottle of private barrel pick whiskey and coupons for local restaurants and a commemorative credential.
To purchase tickets, register as an exhibitor or get more information, go to www.whiskeyin thecloud.com.
Lisa Goldmacher contributed to this story.
