Summerpalooza

I remember reading about this event when you actually had to buy tickets. It was probably under $ 15, but I was still like «cool, but no thanks.» I soon read on Unilocal that it was now free. YIPPEE.
This event had all my favorite things:
1) Sprinkles Cupcakes (my favorite cupcakery)
2) Kind Bars (I get cubes of these delivered to my door every few months
3) Snickerdoodle Cookies (most people went for the Chocolate Chip Bourbon ones, leaving more Snickerdoodle cookies for me)
4) Alcoholic drinks that don’t taste like alcohol
p. s. I only stayed for about an hour and a half so I think I was gone before things got really crowded

I liked the spread of of the event but it was a bit too crowded! Display stations were set out all over the loft like area and people were filling every available space.
Behind the Unilocal station I had the pleasure of meeting James Henry. A Washington DC native who invented a rather mild but pleasantly refreshing adult beverage. The company is called Teavine. Kinda cool! He made a infusion of green tea, white wine honey and added a bit of effervescence. 13 proof? I would need to add Kettle One to it! A specialty cocktail was prepared with El Dorado Rum but it was a bit unbalanced and just tasted like pineapple juice and an undertone of some sort of nectar or agave… Just not for me. DJ Heather was performing in the background but I don’t think the crowd was really feeling it.
Tasty treats were provided by Sprinkles Cupcakes, Kalorama cookies and Blue Moon Agave Nectar Ale. The Cupcakes and cookies were awesome but that particular style of beer was not for me. Oh! I believe it was the Bear Naked granola company that had four offerings! I tried the chocolate and the cinnamon. Pretty good! Overall a great event!

I saw this event on Unilocal,honed in on the word «free» paired with the words «food and drinks» and immediately RSVP’d. Who cares if I can’t find any details other than a list of sponsors and the promise of free food and drinks? There will be free food and drinks!
While my friend and I were looking forward to Summerpalooza, we were hesitant. Were we going to get roped into listening to a speaker for 1.5 hours? Would we stick out like sore thumbs among the other attendees? Would it be obvious that we had no idea what Summerpalooza actually is? Answer: No. The first person I saw when I walked in was a friend from high school who actually works at 1776, and the first thing he said after «Hi» was, «What is this?» Answer: best kept secret this side of Scott Circle.
1776 is a really cool space, and I was lucky that my high school friend was able to explain to me its purpose in more depth (essentially a place where start ups can find resources and space). Also, I was able to learn about smaller food and drink companies trying to make it big from the founders themselves (Teavine, Grohnola). In addition, they offered old faves like Sprinkles cupcakes and Blue Moon. There was a DJ playing music, and the other attendees just seemed to be young people from around DC. We enjoyed our complimentary treats, we learned about start-​ups, and nothing was asked of us. I can’t wait for Autumnpalooza.