December 23, 2024 • 30 mins
Community DC Host Dennis Glasgow talks about the upcoming Mindful Drinking Fest - put together by Derek Brown and Maria Bastasch, from Jan 10-12, 2025 at Union Station District, a weekend event in Washington, DC that celebrates mindful drinking and social wellness.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community d C.
I'm your host Dennis Glasco. This morning, we get a
chance to talk about a very cool event coming up
from January second through the twelfth at Union Market District,
and that's the Mindful Drinking Fest, put together by Derek
Brown and Maria Bastasch. What is Mindful Drinking Fest Simply
a weekend event in Washington, d C that celebrates mindful
(00:22):
drinking and social wellness. And if I pick your curiosity,
mine was too before I met this incredible tag team.
I think you'll find out how unique and cool this
upcoming event is. It is also being supported by Hot
ninety nine and five and iHeartMedia d C. I hope
you enjoyed the conversation. Well, good morning Derek and Maria.
How you guys doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Great?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Well, good morning, Well, I.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Am thrilled to talk to you because iHeart and Hot
ninety ninety five, one of the good stations that this
show is heard on is going to be partners with
Mindful Drinking Fest and I'm so thrilled to talk to
you guys about doing something that I think is different.
And Derek, I want to start with you because I
know you know with Positive Damage, Inc. That I want
you to explain people and then we're going to get
in with you and Maria about Mindful Drinking Fest and
(01:03):
how cool of an idea this is. When you hear
the title, folks, I think it's going to kind of
throw you off guard about. Well, yeah, there is non
alcoholic or very light alcoholic drinking with this wonderful thing
that's going on at Union Market District in Washington, DC.
But it's more, much more than that. So Derek, why
don't you start off with getting some context about this
whole thing so we can kind of get our arms
(01:24):
around it.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Absolutely, So I've been in this the bar and restaurant
industry since I was sixteen years old, and that's where
I learned to drink, right. And for those of you
out there and maybe yourself, if you ever works as
a bartender or waiter or any job in the restaurant bar,
you know that we don't always have the healthiest relationship
with alcohol, and so learning to drink at restaurants, it
(01:47):
was perfectly normal for me to be drinking at the
entire weekend, to have between five and ten drinks or at
least That's what I told my doctor, Right, I probably
had a little bit more. And the fact is that,
you know, at a certain point, I realized that this just.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Wasn't really serving me.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
And I was in this industry, and I wanted to
make a different impression because I guess at first, when
I started to change my relationship with alcohol, I was worried,
what am I going to do? You know, like all
this time I've been you know, you know, focusing on cocktails.
I wrote a book, I had the you know, twenty
seventeen Best American Cocktail Bar, Columbia Room and Washington, d C.
(02:26):
I wasn't going to do turn on and tell people
I'm just kidding, don't drink, right, But what I decided
instead to do is the exact same thing I was doing,
but now concentrate more on no and low alcohol cocktails. So,
you know, I think, first off, I want to, you know,
make this clear for your listeners. You know, I have
nothing against alcohol at all. Mindful drinking doesn't mean giving
(02:48):
up altogether for for everyone, although some people it is
what it means. And so, you know, what I wanted
to do is offer choices with these no and low
alcohol cocaus. So I wrote a second book called Mindful Mixology,
A Comprehensive.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Guide to Alcoholic Cocktails.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I started working on content and programs around no one
low alcohol cocas. I recently just did the cocktail program
at Dogon in Washington, d C. And so I do
similar projects like that where I have cocktails that are
no alcohol, low alcohol, and full octane and it just
gives everybody a choice. So that's really where this idea
(03:29):
was born from. But I wish I could take full
credit for it. The truth is that Erica Godrick, who
is used to own craft beer sellers on H Street,
he initially came up with this idea for Mindful Drinking
fast because she said, look, these wonderful products are coming out.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
They're great, but people have no idea what to do
with them.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Right when you say non alcoholic distilled spirit or you
say non alcoholic wine, what do you mean? And they're
not cheap, right, So people wanted to know more of it,
and that's when we got together. I essentially gave a
class at her at her shop. We had about one
hundred and twenty five people in attendance. That's the most
(04:12):
that we could handle, and we had about twenty different
brands that were sampling their products, you know, not alcoholic beers,
wines and RTD cocktails, ready to drink cocktails, so people
got a chance to try everything before they bought it.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
They get to learn a little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
About how to make No One Low Call cocktails. And
we sold that out in one week. So we were like,
there's something here. There's definitely something here, and people are curious,
they want to know more. And not only do I
not deserve credit for it because of Erica, but Maria
also is like, hey, listen, I know that how we
(04:46):
can push this even further because there's a lot of
people who want to learn more. So the next one
we held that was in October of gosh, what a
twenty twenty two Yeah, and then in January twenty twenty three,
back to back, we held a second one, which is
around three hundred people in attendance, and we had three
other people on the waiting list who wanted to show up.
(05:06):
So it just has kept doubling ever since. And it's
a you know, credit to Erica and Maria and all
the people who have worked on it. But I'll let
Maria share from here, you know, about the origin story
of mind to drink with us from her.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah, we'll do that, Derek, and thank you. It's a
really cool explanation. And Maria, as I told you before
we started an interview, I love the just the idea
in general that you guys and your team are doing this.
So maybe you can pick up where Derek left off
and just you know, kind of talk a little bit
about the origin and what this is and where it's
going to be, because it really is a wonderful idea.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I think that it's been such an organic growth and
exponential growth. Like I was sharing, you know, before our
it really was a meeting of like minded individuals that
had you know, these this alignment, and it was the
seeing those ideas come into reality. So starting with that
(06:04):
first incredible day on H Street, I mean the whole
corner was bustling, everyone was having a good time and
to see then you know, okay, it moved to a
hotel up in Union Market, and then it took over
all of Union Market in twenty twenty four, and now
for twenty twenty five, we're gonna double the size again
and double the programming. It's been so incredible to see
(06:27):
how that grit coupled with ideas, coupled with just an
immense amount of creativity can produce something that didn't exist beforehand,
because we're literally creating something from nothing, and it is
something that's different than you typically see within hospitality or
(06:48):
the marketplace. I think we see wellness events. There's definitely
tons of events around drinking. I used to help throw
them as a form of sum I used to you know,
host you know, pastings where we'd run through all of
these different lines and those are great, you know. And
so it was one of those discussion points early on
(07:09):
where we were like, you know, we really want this
to feel fun. We want this to feel like a
party and a celebration, and we also want this to
be uplifting. We want everyone to feel great physically and
mentally each day. It's hard to achieve those two elements.
Right up until this point, I think we've seen celebration
(07:31):
and well being being an opportunity costs to the other.
And our mission is to debunk that and like rewrite
that equation, if you will. We want to bring those
two things together and show that they can actually uplift
one another. So that's exactly what mindful drinking test is
we call it a social wellness stut, but it's really
(07:52):
that intersection of the celebration and well being. And one
of the ways that we do that is showcasing all
these incredible non alcoholic brands because it is a relatively
new industry and so we do want to, you know,
shine a spotlight on these, you know, incredible products that
are coming out with new technology that is sometimes even
(08:16):
more involved than the process of making a wine that
contains alcohol or a spirit that is distilled with alcohol,
and so we love that element of it. But what
we think is also so unique about this a festival
is the fact that it's very much a festival, right,
and it's something that the public can come and enjoy,
(08:38):
and even if they're not necessarily wanting to know how
a non alcoholic spirit spirit is distilled, they're very excited
to be a part of the community, maybe learn and
taste and get to try something and also get to
participate in a creative wellness activation or get to dance
the night away with their friends in animent that is
(09:00):
like again, super super positive, super creative, and they're waking
up the next morning and they don't have a hangover
so it's really an incredible way to spend your January.
Some of us like to participate in dry January, some
of us maybe dabble with dry ish January, and maybe
you're not doing dry January at all, but you just
want to come and check out a cool new event.
(09:21):
It's a union market. It's really meant to be for everyone.
As Derek said, we want to expand the choices that
are available for people.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Well, thanks, Marianna. I appreciate that explanation about what it is.
And Derek, I think that timing is everything. And listen,
we could do our own podcast together after COVID and
how it had an effect on all of us. And
I'm not just talking about my daughter's peer group. I'm
talking about me and I'm a Generation xer and that
you're doing this and you can go into details why,
(09:51):
but you know, because you've written books and of course
you know I want you to talk a little bit
about positive damage, inc. But we're different since COVID, we
all are and whatever journey that we're on now and
that you're doing this, and as Maria said, how it's different,
it's creative. I think that's why people are glomming on
because we are different, we have change, and I think
(10:11):
we need something like this. Would I be am I
in the right track about that?
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
And then what I heard in that is that we're
starting a podcast together, so we'll talk about that.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
That's why by me after this.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
But second to that, shout out to gen X. And
third is you're absolutely right. The Surgeon General has essentially
declared that lowliness is an epidemic and COVID did not
help that, you know. And and the fact is that
people want to connect and they want to find meaningful
ways to connect, right.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
They don't just want to connect, they want to.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Connect in a way that they feel refreshed and fulfilled
from it. And I mean, and I think that to
do that, alcohol can be part of that, no doubt.
I mean, there's plenty of times where we can, you know,
meet with a friend over a beer or have a
you know, champagne and toasted a celebration.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
That's all very reasonable.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
But for in some cases we want to either avoid alcohol.
We're not drinking for the night, we're not drinking for
the month, We're not drinking for the rest of our lives,
and we might want to have other options and choices,
and so for that to happen, you know, we want
to prolifiate that. We want to make sure that people
know those options are there, and we also want to
(11:26):
share something that I think is a really important part
of that is that a lot of times we assign this,
you know, all the positive emotions that go around with
being together. We're talking to people with eating together, with
you know, celebrating, dancing, all those things that really do
build up this you know, positive emotion in us. Sometimes
(11:46):
we assign all of that to alcohol, right, and we
say alcohol is the reason for this, But the reality
is that we're giving it too much credit.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
It's us.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
It's being together, it's connecting with one another, it's telling stories,
it is dancing, it's eating chocolate cookies. Sometimes these are
the things that increase in dopamine, you know, that they
make us happy to combat stress, well, I mean.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
It is a stressful time during the holidays, all right.
There's a wonderful time of the year, no doubt, but
it also.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Is a time where you know, we have to kind
of like put on our bests and sometimes our family
members feel differently about we do than about the November election.
And so there's some things that happened during the holidays.
It can be stressful, and alcohol can and small amounts
be helpful, but in large amounts it can cause more stress.
And so we want to open that opportunity for people
(12:35):
to you know, recognize in themselves that they are the
ones that are creating the feelings and the positive emotions
A and B. We also want to tell them, you know,
that you don't have to use alcohol as a way
to relieve stress, that you can, in fact connect in
many other ways, and that there are lots of options.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah, really well said guys. And both of us, all
three of us, we're in the people business, you know,
especially with my industry, and one of the things when
I was on air all those years, or as a
program director, when I talk to my sport talk show
host is there's a couple things that you need to
do with your listeners. One is to be able to
relate to them, and other is simple acknowledgment. And I
think after COVID, guys, those are the things that we're
(13:14):
kind of missing right now because we are hold up
in our own room right now more than ever, so
that you're doing this is once again just wonderful I
can't echo that enough. Maria. We're almost at the halfway point,
and I think we should start telling people about this
great event that's happening January tenth through twelfth, how they
can get tickets, all the things that are going to
be going on, the fellowship and having a good time.
And then we're going to talk about your beautiful website
(13:35):
and all the great things that are on there. But
maybe just from a thirty thousand foot view, let's give
everybody the overview when it comes to Mindful Drinking Fest
and how people give me a part of it.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Absolutely, I love this part of the conversation. So if
you go to our website Mindful Drinkingfest dot com, you
can purchase tickets. There. There's all kinds of great information
not only about your ticket purchase, but also so hotels
that you can book. We have an incredible partnership with
the Moral Hotel, a beautiful space just blocks away from
(14:07):
Union Market, and we will be able to book your
rooms there and any other questions you know, the when,
the where, the how. By the way, it's January tenth
through twelfth, twenty twenty five, at the Union Market district.
But yeah, all of that information is at the website,
(14:28):
and you know from that that macro view. There's just
an incredible lineup starting on Friday, January tenth. That's really
the opening, the welcome. We give a welcome TOAST. I
actually give the opening TOAST, so I hope to see
you there. But it kicks us off for a series
(14:51):
of incredible events. We'll be having an interesting roundtable talking
about different policy that's happening that in Tacks, both the
non alcoholic space and other infused functional beverages. There will
be mindful dinners that are happening throughout Union Market. And
then we kick the night off singing our hearts off karaoke.
(15:16):
And this is a little known fact because I've been
seeing karaoke for a very long time. So it is Derek.
I don't know what your karaoke skills are, Donnis, but
maybe we can have a little sample at the end
of the show today. Give us your skills. But I've
been doing karaoke for a long time. It's kind of
a rite of passage as a bartender. It does turn
(15:36):
out that when people are not drinking, they're just really
good at singing. I've never felt intimidated by karaoke until
Mindful Drinking Fest. I was blown away. It was straight
up a performance. So we are so excited for the
Friday night karaoke and that sends us off on Friday.
(15:56):
Saturday is probably the busiest day and that you're going
to have that opening array of incredible wellness opportunities. We're
talking a run club starting at the Moral Hotel, all
kinds of different cool workouts with work Fitness, which is
right there in Union Market. But then there's going to
be incredible seminars and these are really meant to be
(16:19):
educational moments with the thought leaders in the industry, of
the non alcoholic space, in the wellness industry, and really
individuals that are pushing forward this movement of social wellness,
which we need now more than ever, as you've so
keenly highlighted post COVID so really interesting seminars throughout the day,
(16:39):
We'll be weaving in more wellness activations because we know
that that's something that people are really interested in. But
we really tried to get creative this year. We have
one full body journaling activation that will be happening in
our immersive art pop up bar called Lucid Bear. I know,
I just said a lot of words in a row,
but it just goes to show the sort of creativity
(17:01):
that's going into this festival. So we have a pop
up bar that will have really creative installations, and inside
that pop up bar, we're actually going to host wellness
activations because you can right, you don't usually think of holding,
you know, a wellness activation in a bar, but this
is actually the perfect setting for it. At the end
of the day, we are so excited because we have
(17:24):
a live interview with our partner and podcast Cat green
Leaf at Soberness Podcast will be interviewing incredible people right
on the stage and that'll take us into our No
Fun competition. So this year was the launch of the
No Fun non alcoholic competition, and this is actually the
(17:48):
first non alcoholic mixology competition in the United States. The
finals are going to be held at Mindful Drinking this
Saturday night, and we couldn't be more excited for this
because it's really going to be a live variety show.
We really like to make sure that our work is
cut out for us every year, so not only are
we planning the festival, we're planning a variety show and
(18:11):
it's just going to be so cool. So the finalist
who have already been announced on Instagram. If you go
to Mindful Drinking Fest Instagram, you can check out who
those finalists are. They'll be showcasing their cocktail and their
activity because what we asked them to do was to
pair a cocktail with something that brought them joy. So
(18:31):
they put together these super creative Instagram reels that paired
those non alcoholic cocktail recipes with their favorite activities. We
have everything from roller skating to a fire of flinging
and juggling, karaoke and so much more. So we're really
really thrilled to see that happen on Saturday night. And
(18:53):
Saturday Night will culminate in a incredible dance party, the
Halo Little Saints Dance, and that'll go well into the evening.
But we'll be ready to go Saturday morning because we'll
be bright eyed and bushy tailed, and that'll uh ten am,
will have a Cacao ceremony, There'll be a variety of
other seminars, incredible tastings, tastings all throughout right Saturday Day.
(19:19):
We have our grand Tasting Hall. Sunday, there will be
more tastings and our final event on Sunday will be
a dance party called Sober Sound Systems Abisa, and we're
so thrilled because they actually reached out to us. They're
a party that happens in Abisa and they wanted to
come to Washington, DC to be a part of Mindful
(19:40):
Drinking Fest. So they are our closing party and they're
going to be sending everyone off with all the you know,
positive energy and kind of getting ready for twenty twenty
six festival. So I don't know, maybe that was too detailed.
I can go into more details.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
But that's a it was great, I mean, and well,
that's I think it shows how much hard work you
guys have put into it, and Marie, I want to
thank you for all that. And we'll get the website
a couple more times folks about tickets and all the
cool things. There's a fact page on there. Really, there's
a map everything. Union Market District is one of the
perfect places I think you guys could ever have chose,
because it really is a nice spot that everybody can
(20:20):
get to. Derek, I'm wondering though, just kind of dovetailing
off about what Marie was talking and the people this
event that are calling on you. We're getting out about
what you're doing here because of the creativity that it's
different and the post COVID world that we're living in
when it comes to social wellness. With all that said,
when this was a little bit smaller and you were
(20:40):
kind of thinking about as this was growing, what kind
of feedback were you getting from everybody about what they
like and how they wanted this to grow so it
could even be a bigger and better event.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, well, you know a lot of that every year
when we've done this and that we sat down afterwards
and say what can we do better? We've asked the
people who attend to tell us, you know, so we
sent around surveys and all of that, and they are
almost you know, unanimous, and the way the ones the
things that they want, and one is that they wanted
more wellness activations, you know, and creative and interesting ones,
(21:14):
right because when they show up, tasting is great, right,
and you can taste hundreds of products, you know, but
once you've gone through a couple of them, maybe you
want to sit down and do a meditation, Maybe you
want to do a journling exercise, Maybe you want to
do a workout because that's the way that you you know,
unwind and relax and deal with trust.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
So we've jam packed a lot.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Of wellness events in and throughout the weekend, so we
got a lot of feedback around that. We also got
the feedback that people wanted more seminars, they wanted to
learn more about what was going on because we had
you know, it started out where I gave my class
on mindful mixology, but now we have ones.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
For instance, on.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
One called a Better Buzz that talks about functional ingredients.
Now functional ingredients might it sounds very confusing, but really
just what it means is that they have some health additive, right,
So they might include like CDD, or they might include
some kind of mushroom that's known to help sociability and
stuff like that. And these are all legal products. I
(22:15):
just want to clarify that. But these are things that
might help you. Pep you up right, we'll calm you down,
even lemon bum I remember I drank this one product
that had lemon boment and never in a million years
that I expect this to be super effective in helping
me silely, But I slept like a baby after I
made a cocktail with it, so, you know, so we
talked about it during that seminar, so people can you know,
(22:36):
that's just an example.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
We have plenty of other seminars as well. So we
got that.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
But overall, the feedback we got, the positive feedback was
around the connections that people were making, right. They got
the opportunity to meet a lot of people that maybe
they'd seen justin zoom meetings or Instagram where maybe they'd followed,
and they you know, and they got to you know,
interact with.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Them in a meaningful way.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
And so that might have been at a party, that
might have been at a networking event, that might have
been after a seminar, in between tastings, but they got
a chance to connect with one another. And I think
that that was the best feedback we got, and that's
what really drives us, you know, this opportunity to give
people a chance to be together in a way that
supports their well being. I mean, Maria said it really best.
(23:23):
It's like very often you have a bar or you
have working out, and those things are you know, conflicting
with each other. Yeah, they're running up against each other.
Why is it that we can't put these things together?
Why can't we go and socialize in a way that
we feel that we're supporting our health.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
I think that's great. Yeah, I do, two guys.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
As Maria mentioned, three days of programming, one hundred plus
different brands, fifteen hundred attendees. I get that right, Yeah,
it's fifteen hundred. And then you know, you also put
on the target audience, Maria. But we should tell everybody
that you know, this is very all inclusive, that everybody's welcome.
But if you could go into that a little bit more,
because people warning, you know, should I bring my kids
to this event? Is this an adult only thing? Should
(24:07):
I bring my partner, my friends? You know, tell everybody
about maybe their expectations about you know, who is invited
to this event if they get a ticket.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Absolutely well no. At the core of this, this is
an inclusive community. We welcome everyone. We hope that you
come and check out what we are doing. At this point,
we don't have like full pledged kid activities. And you know,
some of these beverages are beverages that are marketed for adults,
(24:37):
especially like beverages that maybe would contain CB or something
you know, like or non alcoholic beer isn't exactly for
a child. But all that being said, you know, this
is this is a festivity for everyone. We want everyone
to come out, and so that was one of the
you know, as we have reviewed past festivals, that's been
such a cool piece of data to review to see, Wow,
(25:00):
we actually do reach a pretty broad audience that everyone,
and I think it makes sense, right, everyone is actually
getting curious about what else is out there when it
comes to tools for supporting celebration, for supporting our social
wellness to you know, these motivators, the motivators that help
(25:23):
us come together. Excuses if you will, sometimes grabbing a
drink with someone sort of your excuse to reconnect with them.
And so just again expanding those choices, that really is
for everyone, and so we hope to continue on that
journey of it being for everyone, but it will share. Yeah,
you know, if you're bringing your kids, they're welcome, But
(25:44):
we're still we haven't quite gotten to the level of
full scale mindful drinking for kids. But that, you know,
I'm sure is in the future we'll have a full
scale festival for the kiddos as well. Right, But at
the heart of what we're doing super really very much inclusive.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Good Thank you, for that, and I think you can
both agree with me when it comes to social and
mental wellness, that the gloves are off, even for my
generation that did not talk about it, did not know
about it. But because I have somebody that's in their
twenties in my family now with my daughter, I'm super educated.
I'm all in and I get it. And that doesn't
mean that when it comes to social and wellness doesn't
affect me, because it does. Same COVID affected me as
(26:21):
a parent, as a human being, and I could go
on and on about that. So that's why I'm glad
the guys that you're doing this, because this really is
for everybody out there. We only have about maybe three
minutes left, guys, so I want to kind of finish
our discussion and just get some final thoughts, and we're
going to get the website one more time, how to
give tickets, the dates and the time. So Derek, why
(26:42):
don't we start with you and then we'll finish up
with Marie and wrap everything up. So the floor is your, sir.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Yeah, I just welcome everybody to come out, whether you
drink alcohol, whether you don't drink alcohol, whether you're curious,
or whether you just you know, you know you're entering
a new phase in your life.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
You just want to check it out.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
This is a great op cortunity to celebrate and connect
with other people. And we would love to see you
there and it's mindful drinkist dot com. That's where you
can get tickets. January tenth through twelve, and it starts
in the evening on Friday, goes all the way through Sunday.
Saturday is the big day. If you don't make any
other day, make sure you make it Saturday.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
All right, Well, very good, And Maria, I want to
hand you and Derek and your team a really big compliment.
And I've been on ten billion websites because of this
series and other things I do with iHeart. You really
do have an incredible website. It's easy to navigate, it's beautiful.
I know you've worked very hard at it, So kudos
to you, the team and everybody that put it together.
(27:40):
Folks will get the website to address one more time.
But Maria, beside the compliment that I want to give
you for the website, just maybe some final thoughts from
you as well too.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
I really appreciate that. Thank you so much. Yes, I
couldn't echo what Derek shared enough. This is really something
that we're hoping reaches over one. We believe that there
is something for everyone over this weekend and we're just
so grateful to be able to put this on, especially
in Union Market. We love DC. I still maintain I
(28:11):
think DC's one of the most creative places I've ever
lived in, and I'm so proud to call it my home.
So it makes me so excited that this festival is
of DC and we just can't wait to see everyone
out there on January January ten through twelfth, that Friday
through Sunday. And if you can only make it one day,
definitely I'd prioritize Saturday and Union Market and you can
(28:32):
get those tickets at Mindful Drinkingfest dot com.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
And we want to mention also that one of the
outstanding radio stations here at iheard DC that you're hearing
this show on this morning or on the web. We're
on our podcast page. It's hot in ninety niney five.
That are They're great to be partners with things like this.
I'm glad that they're a part of it. So we're
thrilled about that too. Guys, I can't tell you how
much I appreciate your valuable time, and this is really
(28:56):
meaningful to have you on for all the reasons we
talked about, and more so, I think the event is
not only going to be huge for you coming up
the tent through the twelfth at Union Market District in Washington,
d C. But also I think you're going to start
to get a lot of national attention because you're being
creative and it's different and it's impacting a lot of
people in a really big market where things are affecting
(29:18):
a lot of people right now, So it's timely, it's
a brilliant idea and I couldn't be happy for you guys.
I know it's a lot of hard work too, because
we put on events here at the radio station, and
every event is stressful. You don't know how it's going
to go down lit people are running around all hells
breaking loose, everybody's on the schedule. But it's also going
to be a lot of fun. So I think when
it starts, when it's all over, I hope you guys
have a great experience, And Derek and Maria, thank you
(29:39):
so much for a valuable time. Continue success in this,
Stay in touch with us because we want to hear
how it went and have you back again. But I
have a feeling that tent through the twelfth, it's going
to be fantastic.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Thank you so much, Jennis. We're so happy to be
throwing it. We're happy to be in partnership with iHeart Media.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Standing well, listen. It's a pleasure to have you on
Community DC and we'll see you guys down there. Thanks
again for this
Good morning, and welcome to another edition of Community d C.
I'm your host Dennis Glasco. This morning, we get a
chance to talk about a very cool event coming up
from January second through the twelfth at Union Market District,
and that's the Mindful Drinking Fest, put together by Derek
Brown and Maria Bastasch. What is Mindful Drinking Fest Simply
a weekend event in Washington, d C that celebrates mindful
(00:22):
drinking and social wellness. And if I pick your curiosity,
mine was too before I met this incredible tag team.
I think you'll find out how unique and cool this
upcoming event is. It is also being supported by Hot
ninety nine and five and iHeartMedia d C. I hope
you enjoyed the conversation. Well, good morning Derek and Maria.
How you guys doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Great?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Well, good morning, Well, I.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Am thrilled to talk to you because iHeart and Hot
ninety ninety five, one of the good stations that this
show is heard on is going to be partners with
Mindful Drinking Fest and I'm so thrilled to talk to
you guys about doing something that I think is different.
And Derek, I want to start with you because I
know you know with Positive Damage, Inc. That I want
you to explain people and then we're going to get
in with you and Maria about Mindful Drinking Fest and
(01:03):
how cool of an idea this is. When you hear
the title, folks, I think it's going to kind of
throw you off guard about. Well, yeah, there is non
alcoholic or very light alcoholic drinking with this wonderful thing
that's going on at Union Market District in Washington, DC.
But it's more, much more than that. So Derek, why
don't you start off with getting some context about this
whole thing so we can kind of get our arms
(01:24):
around it.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Absolutely, So I've been in this the bar and restaurant
industry since I was sixteen years old, and that's where
I learned to drink, right. And for those of you
out there and maybe yourself, if you ever works as
a bartender or waiter or any job in the restaurant bar,
you know that we don't always have the healthiest relationship
with alcohol, and so learning to drink at restaurants, it
(01:47):
was perfectly normal for me to be drinking at the
entire weekend, to have between five and ten drinks or at
least That's what I told my doctor, Right, I probably
had a little bit more. And the fact is that,
you know, at a certain point, I realized that this just.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
Wasn't really serving me.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
And I was in this industry, and I wanted to
make a different impression because I guess at first, when
I started to change my relationship with alcohol, I was worried,
what am I going to do? You know, like all
this time I've been you know, you know, focusing on cocktails.
I wrote a book, I had the you know, twenty
seventeen Best American Cocktail Bar, Columbia Room and Washington, d C.
(02:26):
I wasn't going to do turn on and tell people
I'm just kidding, don't drink, right, But what I decided
instead to do is the exact same thing I was doing,
but now concentrate more on no and low alcohol cocktails. So,
you know, I think, first off, I want to, you know,
make this clear for your listeners. You know, I have
nothing against alcohol at all. Mindful drinking doesn't mean giving
(02:48):
up altogether for for everyone, although some people it is
what it means. And so, you know, what I wanted
to do is offer choices with these no and low
alcohol cocaus. So I wrote a second book called Mindful Mixology,
A Comprehensive.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Guide to Alcoholic Cocktails.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I started working on content and programs around no one
low alcohol cocas. I recently just did the cocktail program
at Dogon in Washington, d C. And so I do
similar projects like that where I have cocktails that are
no alcohol, low alcohol, and full octane and it just
gives everybody a choice. So that's really where this idea
(03:29):
was born from. But I wish I could take full
credit for it. The truth is that Erica Godrick, who
is used to own craft beer sellers on H Street,
he initially came up with this idea for Mindful Drinking
fast because she said, look, these wonderful products are coming out.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
They're great, but people have no idea what to do
with them.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Right when you say non alcoholic distilled spirit or you
say non alcoholic wine, what do you mean? And they're
not cheap, right, So people wanted to know more of it,
and that's when we got together. I essentially gave a
class at her at her shop. We had about one
hundred and twenty five people in attendance. That's the most
(04:12):
that we could handle, and we had about twenty different
brands that were sampling their products, you know, not alcoholic beers,
wines and RTD cocktails, ready to drink cocktails, so people
got a chance to try everything before they bought it.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
They get to learn a little bit.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
About how to make No One Low Call cocktails. And
we sold that out in one week. So we were like,
there's something here. There's definitely something here, and people are curious,
they want to know more. And not only do I
not deserve credit for it because of Erica, but Maria
also is like, hey, listen, I know that how we
(04:46):
can push this even further because there's a lot of
people who want to learn more. So the next one
we held that was in October of gosh, what a
twenty twenty two Yeah, and then in January twenty twenty three,
back to back, we held a second one, which is
around three hundred people in attendance, and we had three
other people on the waiting list who wanted to show up.
(05:06):
So it just has kept doubling ever since. And it's
a you know, credit to Erica and Maria and all
the people who have worked on it. But I'll let
Maria share from here, you know, about the origin story
of mind to drink with us from her.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah, we'll do that, Derek, and thank you. It's a
really cool explanation. And Maria, as I told you before
we started an interview, I love the just the idea
in general that you guys and your team are doing this.
So maybe you can pick up where Derek left off
and just you know, kind of talk a little bit
about the origin and what this is and where it's
going to be, because it really is a wonderful idea.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I think that it's been such an organic growth and
exponential growth. Like I was sharing, you know, before our
it really was a meeting of like minded individuals that
had you know, these this alignment, and it was the
seeing those ideas come into reality. So starting with that
(06:04):
first incredible day on H Street, I mean the whole
corner was bustling, everyone was having a good time and
to see then you know, okay, it moved to a
hotel up in Union Market, and then it took over
all of Union Market in twenty twenty four, and now
for twenty twenty five, we're gonna double the size again
and double the programming. It's been so incredible to see
(06:27):
how that grit coupled with ideas, coupled with just an
immense amount of creativity can produce something that didn't exist beforehand,
because we're literally creating something from nothing, and it is
something that's different than you typically see within hospitality or
(06:48):
the marketplace. I think we see wellness events. There's definitely
tons of events around drinking. I used to help throw
them as a form of sum I used to you know,
host you know, pastings where we'd run through all of
these different lines and those are great, you know. And
so it was one of those discussion points early on
(07:09):
where we were like, you know, we really want this
to feel fun. We want this to feel like a
party and a celebration, and we also want this to
be uplifting. We want everyone to feel great physically and
mentally each day. It's hard to achieve those two elements.
Right up until this point, I think we've seen celebration
(07:31):
and well being being an opportunity costs to the other.
And our mission is to debunk that and like rewrite
that equation, if you will. We want to bring those
two things together and show that they can actually uplift
one another. So that's exactly what mindful drinking test is
we call it a social wellness stut, but it's really
(07:52):
that intersection of the celebration and well being. And one
of the ways that we do that is showcasing all
these incredible non alcoholic brands because it is a relatively
new industry and so we do want to, you know,
shine a spotlight on these, you know, incredible products that
are coming out with new technology that is sometimes even
(08:16):
more involved than the process of making a wine that
contains alcohol or a spirit that is distilled with alcohol,
and so we love that element of it. But what
we think is also so unique about this a festival
is the fact that it's very much a festival, right,
and it's something that the public can come and enjoy,
(08:38):
and even if they're not necessarily wanting to know how
a non alcoholic spirit spirit is distilled, they're very excited
to be a part of the community, maybe learn and
taste and get to try something and also get to
participate in a creative wellness activation or get to dance
the night away with their friends in animent that is
(09:00):
like again, super super positive, super creative, and they're waking
up the next morning and they don't have a hangover
so it's really an incredible way to spend your January.
Some of us like to participate in dry January, some
of us maybe dabble with dry ish January, and maybe
you're not doing dry January at all, but you just
want to come and check out a cool new event.
(09:21):
It's a union market. It's really meant to be for everyone.
As Derek said, we want to expand the choices that
are available for people.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Well, thanks, Marianna. I appreciate that explanation about what it is.
And Derek, I think that timing is everything. And listen,
we could do our own podcast together after COVID and
how it had an effect on all of us. And
I'm not just talking about my daughter's peer group. I'm
talking about me and I'm a Generation xer and that
you're doing this and you can go into details why,
(09:51):
but you know, because you've written books and of course
you know I want you to talk a little bit
about positive damage, inc. But we're different since COVID, we
all are and whatever journey that we're on now and
that you're doing this, and as Maria said, how it's different,
it's creative. I think that's why people are glomming on
because we are different, we have change, and I think
(10:11):
we need something like this. Would I be am I
in the right track about that?
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
And then what I heard in that is that we're
starting a podcast together, so we'll talk about that.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
That's why by me after this.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
But second to that, shout out to gen X. And
third is you're absolutely right. The Surgeon General has essentially
declared that lowliness is an epidemic and COVID did not
help that, you know. And and the fact is that
people want to connect and they want to find meaningful
ways to connect, right.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
They don't just want to connect, they want to.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Connect in a way that they feel refreshed and fulfilled
from it. And I mean, and I think that to
do that, alcohol can be part of that, no doubt.
I mean, there's plenty of times where we can, you know,
meet with a friend over a beer or have a
you know, champagne and toasted a celebration.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
That's all very reasonable.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
But for in some cases we want to either avoid alcohol.
We're not drinking for the night, we're not drinking for
the month, We're not drinking for the rest of our lives,
and we might want to have other options and choices,
and so for that to happen, you know, we want
to prolifiate that. We want to make sure that people
know those options are there, and we also want to
(11:26):
share something that I think is a really important part
of that is that a lot of times we assign this,
you know, all the positive emotions that go around with
being together. We're talking to people with eating together, with
you know, celebrating, dancing, all those things that really do
build up this you know, positive emotion in us. Sometimes
(11:46):
we assign all of that to alcohol, right, and we
say alcohol is the reason for this, But the reality
is that we're giving it too much credit.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
It's us.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
It's being together, it's connecting with one another, it's telling stories,
it is dancing, it's eating chocolate cookies. Sometimes these are
the things that increase in dopamine, you know, that they
make us happy to combat stress, well, I mean.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
It is a stressful time during the holidays, all right.
There's a wonderful time of the year, no doubt, but
it also.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
Is a time where you know, we have to kind
of like put on our bests and sometimes our family
members feel differently about we do than about the November election.
And so there's some things that happened during the holidays.
It can be stressful, and alcohol can and small amounts
be helpful, but in large amounts it can cause more stress.
And so we want to open that opportunity for people
(12:35):
to you know, recognize in themselves that they are the
ones that are creating the feelings and the positive emotions
A and B. We also want to tell them, you know,
that you don't have to use alcohol as a way
to relieve stress, that you can, in fact connect in
many other ways, and that there are lots of options.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah, really well said guys. And both of us, all
three of us, we're in the people business, you know,
especially with my industry, and one of the things when
I was on air all those years, or as a
program director, when I talk to my sport talk show
host is there's a couple things that you need to
do with your listeners. One is to be able to
relate to them, and other is simple acknowledgment. And I
think after COVID, guys, those are the things that we're
(13:14):
kind of missing right now because we are hold up
in our own room right now more than ever, so
that you're doing this is once again just wonderful I
can't echo that enough. Maria. We're almost at the halfway point,
and I think we should start telling people about this
great event that's happening January tenth through twelfth, how they
can get tickets, all the things that are going to
be going on, the fellowship and having a good time.
And then we're going to talk about your beautiful website
(13:35):
and all the great things that are on there. But
maybe just from a thirty thousand foot view, let's give
everybody the overview when it comes to Mindful Drinking Fest
and how people give me a part of it.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Absolutely, I love this part of the conversation. So if
you go to our website Mindful Drinkingfest dot com, you
can purchase tickets. There. There's all kinds of great information
not only about your ticket purchase, but also so hotels
that you can book. We have an incredible partnership with
the Moral Hotel, a beautiful space just blocks away from
(14:07):
Union Market, and we will be able to book your
rooms there and any other questions you know, the when,
the where, the how. By the way, it's January tenth
through twelfth, twenty twenty five, at the Union Market district.
But yeah, all of that information is at the website,
(14:28):
and you know from that that macro view. There's just
an incredible lineup starting on Friday, January tenth. That's really
the opening, the welcome. We give a welcome TOAST. I
actually give the opening TOAST, so I hope to see
you there. But it kicks us off for a series
(14:51):
of incredible events. We'll be having an interesting roundtable talking
about different policy that's happening that in Tacks, both the
non alcoholic space and other infused functional beverages. There will
be mindful dinners that are happening throughout Union Market. And
then we kick the night off singing our hearts off karaoke.
(15:16):
And this is a little known fact because I've been
seeing karaoke for a very long time. So it is Derek.
I don't know what your karaoke skills are, Donnis, but
maybe we can have a little sample at the end
of the show today. Give us your skills. But I've
been doing karaoke for a long time. It's kind of
a rite of passage as a bartender. It does turn
(15:36):
out that when people are not drinking, they're just really
good at singing. I've never felt intimidated by karaoke until
Mindful Drinking Fest. I was blown away. It was straight
up a performance. So we are so excited for the
Friday night karaoke and that sends us off on Friday.
(15:56):
Saturday is probably the busiest day and that you're going
to have that opening array of incredible wellness opportunities. We're
talking a run club starting at the Moral Hotel, all
kinds of different cool workouts with work Fitness, which is
right there in Union Market. But then there's going to
be incredible seminars and these are really meant to be
(16:19):
educational moments with the thought leaders in the industry, of
the non alcoholic space, in the wellness industry, and really
individuals that are pushing forward this movement of social wellness,
which we need now more than ever, as you've so
keenly highlighted post COVID so really interesting seminars throughout the day,
(16:39):
We'll be weaving in more wellness activations because we know
that that's something that people are really interested in. But
we really tried to get creative this year. We have
one full body journaling activation that will be happening in
our immersive art pop up bar called Lucid Bear. I know,
I just said a lot of words in a row,
but it just goes to show the sort of creativity
(17:01):
that's going into this festival. So we have a pop
up bar that will have really creative installations, and inside
that pop up bar, we're actually going to host wellness
activations because you can right, you don't usually think of holding,
you know, a wellness activation in a bar, but this
is actually the perfect setting for it. At the end
of the day, we are so excited because we have
(17:24):
a live interview with our partner and podcast Cat green
Leaf at Soberness Podcast will be interviewing incredible people right
on the stage and that'll take us into our No
Fun competition. So this year was the launch of the
No Fun non alcoholic competition, and this is actually the
(17:48):
first non alcoholic mixology competition in the United States. The
finals are going to be held at Mindful Drinking this
Saturday night, and we couldn't be more excited for this
because it's really going to be a live variety show.
We really like to make sure that our work is
cut out for us every year, so not only are
we planning the festival, we're planning a variety show and
(18:11):
it's just going to be so cool. So the finalist
who have already been announced on Instagram. If you go
to Mindful Drinking Fest Instagram, you can check out who
those finalists are. They'll be showcasing their cocktail and their
activity because what we asked them to do was to
pair a cocktail with something that brought them joy. So
(18:31):
they put together these super creative Instagram reels that paired
those non alcoholic cocktail recipes with their favorite activities. We
have everything from roller skating to a fire of flinging
and juggling, karaoke and so much more. So we're really
really thrilled to see that happen on Saturday night. And
(18:53):
Saturday Night will culminate in a incredible dance party, the
Halo Little Saints Dance, and that'll go well into the evening.
But we'll be ready to go Saturday morning because we'll
be bright eyed and bushy tailed, and that'll uh ten am,
will have a Cacao ceremony, There'll be a variety of
other seminars, incredible tastings, tastings all throughout right Saturday Day.
(19:19):
We have our grand Tasting Hall. Sunday, there will be
more tastings and our final event on Sunday will be
a dance party called Sober Sound Systems Abisa, and we're
so thrilled because they actually reached out to us. They're
a party that happens in Abisa and they wanted to
come to Washington, DC to be a part of Mindful
(19:40):
Drinking Fest. So they are our closing party and they're
going to be sending everyone off with all the you know,
positive energy and kind of getting ready for twenty twenty
six festival. So I don't know, maybe that was too detailed.
I can go into more details.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
But that's a it was great, I mean, and well,
that's I think it shows how much hard work you
guys have put into it, and Marie, I want to
thank you for all that. And we'll get the website
a couple more times folks about tickets and all the
cool things. There's a fact page on there. Really, there's
a map everything. Union Market District is one of the
perfect places I think you guys could ever have chose,
because it really is a nice spot that everybody can
(20:20):
get to. Derek, I'm wondering though, just kind of dovetailing
off about what Marie was talking and the people this
event that are calling on you. We're getting out about
what you're doing here because of the creativity that it's
different and the post COVID world that we're living in
when it comes to social wellness. With all that said,
when this was a little bit smaller and you were
(20:40):
kind of thinking about as this was growing, what kind
of feedback were you getting from everybody about what they
like and how they wanted this to grow so it
could even be a bigger and better event.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, well, you know a lot of that every year
when we've done this and that we sat down afterwards
and say what can we do better? We've asked the
people who attend to tell us, you know, so we
sent around surveys and all of that, and they are
almost you know, unanimous, and the way the ones the
things that they want, and one is that they wanted
more wellness activations, you know, and creative and interesting ones,
(21:14):
right because when they show up, tasting is great, right,
and you can taste hundreds of products, you know, but
once you've gone through a couple of them, maybe you
want to sit down and do a meditation, Maybe you
want to do a journling exercise, Maybe you want to
do a workout because that's the way that you you know,
unwind and relax and deal with trust.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
So we've jam packed a lot.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Of wellness events in and throughout the weekend, so we
got a lot of feedback around that. We also got
the feedback that people wanted more seminars, they wanted to
learn more about what was going on because we had
you know, it started out where I gave my class
on mindful mixology, but now we have ones.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
For instance, on.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
One called a Better Buzz that talks about functional ingredients.
Now functional ingredients might it sounds very confusing, but really
just what it means is that they have some health additive, right,
So they might include like CDD, or they might include
some kind of mushroom that's known to help sociability and
stuff like that. And these are all legal products. I
(22:15):
just want to clarify that. But these are things that
might help you. Pep you up right, we'll calm you down,
even lemon bum I remember I drank this one product
that had lemon boment and never in a million years
that I expect this to be super effective in helping
me silely, But I slept like a baby after I
made a cocktail with it, so, you know, so we
talked about it during that seminar, so people can you know,
(22:36):
that's just an example.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
We have plenty of other seminars as well. So we
got that.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
But overall, the feedback we got, the positive feedback was
around the connections that people were making, right. They got
the opportunity to meet a lot of people that maybe
they'd seen justin zoom meetings or Instagram where maybe they'd followed,
and they you know, and they got to you know,
interact with.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Them in a meaningful way.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
And so that might have been at a party, that
might have been at a networking event, that might have
been after a seminar, in between tastings, but they got
a chance to connect with one another. And I think
that that was the best feedback we got, and that's
what really drives us, you know, this opportunity to give
people a chance to be together in a way that
supports their well being. I mean, Maria said it really best.
(23:23):
It's like very often you have a bar or you
have working out, and those things are you know, conflicting
with each other. Yeah, they're running up against each other.
Why is it that we can't put these things together?
Why can't we go and socialize in a way that
we feel that we're supporting our health.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
I think that's great. Yeah, I do, two guys.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
As Maria mentioned, three days of programming, one hundred plus
different brands, fifteen hundred attendees. I get that right, Yeah,
it's fifteen hundred. And then you know, you also put
on the target audience, Maria. But we should tell everybody
that you know, this is very all inclusive, that everybody's welcome.
But if you could go into that a little bit more,
because people warning, you know, should I bring my kids
to this event? Is this an adult only thing? Should
(24:07):
I bring my partner, my friends? You know, tell everybody
about maybe their expectations about you know, who is invited
to this event if they get a ticket.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Absolutely well no. At the core of this, this is
an inclusive community. We welcome everyone. We hope that you
come and check out what we are doing. At this point,
we don't have like full pledged kid activities. And you know,
some of these beverages are beverages that are marketed for adults,
(24:37):
especially like beverages that maybe would contain CB or something
you know, like or non alcoholic beer isn't exactly for
a child. But all that being said, you know, this
is this is a festivity for everyone. We want everyone
to come out, and so that was one of the
you know, as we have reviewed past festivals, that's been
such a cool piece of data to review to see, Wow,
(25:00):
we actually do reach a pretty broad audience that everyone,
and I think it makes sense, right, everyone is actually
getting curious about what else is out there when it
comes to tools for supporting celebration, for supporting our social
wellness to you know, these motivators, the motivators that help
(25:23):
us come together. Excuses if you will, sometimes grabbing a
drink with someone sort of your excuse to reconnect with them.
And so just again expanding those choices, that really is
for everyone, and so we hope to continue on that
journey of it being for everyone, but it will share. Yeah,
you know, if you're bringing your kids, they're welcome, But
(25:44):
we're still we haven't quite gotten to the level of
full scale mindful drinking for kids. But that, you know,
I'm sure is in the future we'll have a full
scale festival for the kiddos as well. Right, But at
the heart of what we're doing super really very much inclusive.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Good Thank you, for that, and I think you can
both agree with me when it comes to social and
mental wellness, that the gloves are off, even for my
generation that did not talk about it, did not know
about it. But because I have somebody that's in their
twenties in my family now with my daughter, I'm super educated.
I'm all in and I get it. And that doesn't
mean that when it comes to social and wellness doesn't
affect me, because it does. Same COVID affected me as
(26:21):
a parent, as a human being, and I could go
on and on about that. So that's why I'm glad
the guys that you're doing this, because this really is
for everybody out there. We only have about maybe three
minutes left, guys, so I want to kind of finish
our discussion and just get some final thoughts, and we're
going to get the website one more time, how to
give tickets, the dates and the time. So Derek, why
(26:42):
don't we start with you and then we'll finish up
with Marie and wrap everything up. So the floor is your, sir.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Yeah, I just welcome everybody to come out, whether you
drink alcohol, whether you don't drink alcohol, whether you're curious,
or whether you just you know, you know you're entering
a new phase in your life.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
You just want to check it out.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
This is a great op cortunity to celebrate and connect
with other people. And we would love to see you
there and it's mindful drinkist dot com. That's where you
can get tickets. January tenth through twelve, and it starts
in the evening on Friday, goes all the way through Sunday.
Saturday is the big day. If you don't make any
other day, make sure you make it Saturday.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
All right, Well, very good, And Maria, I want to
hand you and Derek and your team a really big compliment.
And I've been on ten billion websites because of this
series and other things I do with iHeart. You really
do have an incredible website. It's easy to navigate, it's beautiful.
I know you've worked very hard at it, So kudos
to you, the team and everybody that put it together.
(27:40):
Folks will get the website to address one more time.
But Maria, beside the compliment that I want to give
you for the website, just maybe some final thoughts from
you as well too.
Speaker 3 (27:49):
I really appreciate that. Thank you so much. Yes, I
couldn't echo what Derek shared enough. This is really something
that we're hoping reaches over one. We believe that there
is something for everyone over this weekend and we're just
so grateful to be able to put this on, especially
in Union Market. We love DC. I still maintain I
(28:11):
think DC's one of the most creative places I've ever
lived in, and I'm so proud to call it my home.
So it makes me so excited that this festival is
of DC and we just can't wait to see everyone
out there on January January ten through twelfth, that Friday
through Sunday. And if you can only make it one day,
definitely I'd prioritize Saturday and Union Market and you can
(28:32):
get those tickets at Mindful Drinkingfest dot com.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
And we want to mention also that one of the
outstanding radio stations here at iheard DC that you're hearing
this show on this morning or on the web. We're
on our podcast page. It's hot in ninety niney five.
That are They're great to be partners with things like this.
I'm glad that they're a part of it. So we're
thrilled about that too. Guys, I can't tell you how
much I appreciate your valuable time, and this is really
(28:56):
meaningful to have you on for all the reasons we
talked about, and more so, I think the event is
not only going to be huge for you coming up
the tent through the twelfth at Union Market District in Washington,
d C. But also I think you're going to start
to get a lot of national attention because you're being
creative and it's different and it's impacting a lot of
people in a really big market where things are affecting
(29:18):
a lot of people right now, So it's timely, it's
a brilliant idea and I couldn't be happy for you guys.
I know it's a lot of hard work too, because
we put on events here at the radio station, and
every event is stressful. You don't know how it's going
to go down lit people are running around all hells
breaking loose, everybody's on the schedule. But it's also going
to be a lot of fun. So I think when
it starts, when it's all over, I hope you guys
have a great experience, And Derek and Maria, thank you
(29:39):
so much for a valuable time. Continue success in this,
Stay in touch with us because we want to hear
how it went and have you back again. But I
have a feeling that tent through the twelfth, it's going
to be fantastic.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Thank you so much, Jennis. We're so happy to be
throwing it. We're happy to be in partnership with iHeart Media.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Standing well, listen. It's a pleasure to have you on
Community DC and we'll see you guys down there. Thanks
again for this
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