It’s not just about music anymore. Manhattan’s annual live concert series is expanding its horizons by pairing a variety of music genres with your choice of Midwest microbrews Saturday, August 1.

The Rhythm & Brews Festival consolidates the annual Brew 2 Shoe races, Hail the Ale microbrew contest and the Little Apple Music Festival into one eventful weekend. The festival caters to those who like the classic summer combination of exercise, beer and live music. A family-friendly area including a photo booth, balloon artist, face painter and an inflatable bounce house will be available for festivalgoers with children from 5-8 p.m. at City Park in Manhattan, Kansas.

The festival starts at 7 a.m. with the seventh annual Brew 2 Shoe races beginning at the recently opened Tallgrass Taphouse in downtown Manhattan. Following the races, festival attendees will be able to taste regional microbrewery samples from 1-4 p.m. at the Hail the Ale competition in the GTM Family Center at City Park. Four-ounce microbrew samples are available to those who take advantage of the $25 day pass. Passes are limited to the first 300 sold. Compliment your samples with Cox Brothers barbecue and Friendship House restaurant’s specialty bierocks outside the Family Center. 

End your evening at the music festival featuring an Americana powerhouse, vocal trio Red Molly. The music begins with rhythm and blues band MaDame Groove at 5:30 p.m. followed by Daniel Dissmore and the Jazz Ambassadors of Manhattan, neo-funk Charles Walker Band and headliner Red Molly at the Larry Norvell Band Shell.

The free annual music festival is part of the city’s Arts in the Park series. The event is a collaborative effort between the K-State Student Union Program Council (UPC) and the Manhattan Parks and Recreation Department. Other sponsors are Manhattan Convention and Visitors Bureau, Fort Riley’s MWR, the Dow Chemical for Multicultural and Community Studies, Ag Press, Holiday Inn at the Campus and Little Apple Toyota Honda.