The second annual Free Spirited Festival will return to Wea Creek Orchard on Saturday, Aug. 1, bringing together more than 40 nonalcoholic and functional beverage brands for a day of tastings, education and entertainment while raising money for Food Finders Food Bank.
Attendees will have the opportunity to sample a wide variety of nonalcoholic spirits, functional sodas and adaptogenic beverages from brands across the country. In addition to beverage tastings, the festival will feature yoga, educational panel discussions, a mixology demonstration, live music, food trucks, breathwork sessions, a cacao ceremony and a closing toast.
Featured speakers include Laura Silverman of Zero Proof Nation, Jessa Francis of the Caim Circle, Cimcie Nichols of Hatchet Granny and Kayla Lewis of NAPS (Non-Alc Party Scene). Joshua James of San Francisco’s Ocean Beach Cafe will lead the mixology demonstration.
“We know more about the space than anybody,” said Generation NA owner Rob Theodorow. “These brands are coming here because we were their first account. We don’t just sell them. We know about them.”
Theodorow launched Generation NA in 2022 as an Instagram account reviewing nonalcoholic beers before expanding into a pop-up shop inside his tech agency, Stormfront Productions. The business has since grown into a brick-and-mortar bottle shop and taproom at 504 Main Street in downtown Lafayette, becoming the first nonalcoholic bottle shop in the Midwest. Today, Generation NA employs 10 people and has more than 52,000 Instagram followers. The business has also received national recognition from Wine Enthusiast, Forbes and Midwest Living.
Greater Lafayette Commerce President and CEO Mikel Berger praised the community collaboration behind the event.
“Rob’s the kind of guy who just gets after it,” Berger said. “What really gets me is watching the community rally behind it—Wea Creek Orchard opening up their land, the local bars and breweries collaborating instead of competing, all of it raising money for Food Finders. That’s the kind of thing that puts Greater Lafayette on the map.”
Proceeds from the festival will benefit Food Finders Food Bank. Organizers said approximately 400 people attended the inaugural festival last year and are hoping to welcome between 500 and 600 attendees this year.
Tickets are $30, and organizers are offering a $5 discount with the promo code SAVE5. Tickets are available at freespiritedfestival.com.
