First there was the Seymour Pumpkin Festival, which has been the Naugatuck Valley’s premier fall fair for 45 years.
Then there was Seymour First Night, a monthly event downtown where merchants stay open late and help draw crowds on the first Saturday of each month.
Then came Seymour Founder’s Day, a downtown street festival heading into its second year.
Now a traveling softball team wants to add Seymour’s latest outdoor fair: an Oktoberfest beer and chili tasting extravaganza downtown.
The Seymour Tradition traveling softball team is trying to get the fair together as a fundraiser. The group has asked the town for permission to host its event on downtown streets. The Board of Selectmen approved it unanimously during its meeting Tuesday night at Town Hall, contingent on state approval and legal disclaimers so the town does not get sued.
At the meeting, a spokesman for the group outlined a plan to get as many as 35 craft brewers participating, and firefighters serving chili in a contest with prizes.
“We want to hold it downtown, block off some of the streets like Main Street, and have a lot of tents set up, if we get approval,” said Bob Lang, president of the Seymour Tradition.
The event would be called “Smoke in the Valley,” with brewers in the region offering tasting samples of their libations and local firefighters competing to make the most popular chili.
Lang figures the event could raise at least $5,000 for the softball league.
He would try to make the event coincide with the First Saturday event already held downtown.
“A date we’re aiming for is the first Saturday in October,” he said.
The group has held past beer and wine tasting events as fundraisers, but the Oktoberfest would be a much bigger affair, Lang said.
