{"id":3440,"date":"2025-07-12T16:48:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T16:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.humanepa.org\/?p=3440"},"modified":"2025-07-13T19:47:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T19:47:37","slug":"the-glastonbury-of-beer-fests-or-who-is-this-joe-strummer-they-keep-talking-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.humanepa.org\/?p=3440","title":{"rendered":"The Glastonbury of Beer Fests, or Who is This Joe Strummer They Keep Talking About?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Karel Minor, Humane Pennsylvania President & CEO (and aging Punk!)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A funny thing happened on the way to bringing back Humane PA\u2019s Pints for Pups (PfP)<\/a> after an 8-year break.\u00a0 It kind of became something else.\u00a0 PfP had always been a big, fun party with lots of drinks, food, and live music.\u00a0 But the pause meant that we didn\u2019t have to be just a repeat of last year\u2019s event, only in a different spot with a different band.\u00a0 It can be what it always wanted to be when it grew up.\u00a0 A tiny Glastonbury of Beer Festivals!<\/p>\n

In case you don\u2019t know about the Glastonbury Festival<\/a>, it\u2019s a big music festival in the English countryside.\u00a0 Music, art, pleasant weirdos, and very cool tents.\u00a0 Think Burning Man but with less pretension and rolling, green fields.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"This year\u2019s PfP is being hosted at HPA\u2019s very own Ruiz-Murphy Dog Park in Birdsboro.\u00a0 It has green, rolling fields aplenty.\u00a0 We decided to book two bands from the early days of PfP, the fabulous Americana of The Youngers<\/a>, who first played in 2008, and the OG Brit rockabilly<\/a> of Dibbs and the Detonators<\/a>, who first played in 2009.\u00a0 Wow, did we have not just a band but a mini-festival? HPA events always bring out nice folks who bring their dogs and are generally more humane than the average punter (to steal a Brit term).\u00a0 These days, nice people seem to be the weird exception and not the rule, and we welcome them.\u00a0 Pleasant weirdos? Check!<\/p>\n

But it all clicked when we were planning to prepare for rain and sun, and I remembered we had a big bunch of giant multicolored sun umbrellas to go with the big sail cloth and tarps we usually hang to give shade and cover from the sun or rain.\u00a0 I thought, \u201cThis is starting to look like Glastonbury more than Pints for Pups.\u201d\u00a0 Eureka!\u00a0 This was exactly the vibe at the very best years of PfP – parklike settings, space to spread out, and being not just a nice way to support Humane PA\u2019s mission but a big fun party with a few hundred of our pleasant friends and a band (or two!) we love.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Photos from past Glastonbury Festivals<\/em><\/p>\n

In other words, Pints for Pups is<\/em> the Glastonbury of Beer Festivals!\u00a0 And if it\u2019s Glastonbury, it wouldn\u2019t be complete without Strummerville, Joe Strummer\u2019s village of tents<\/a> where people hung out around a bonfire after the show.\u00a0 So, we are inviting you to participate in the inaugural Strummerville West<\/strong>.\u00a0 Bring your pop-up tent, some extra chairs, and a blanket to set up around the small bonfire.\u00a0 Hang out during the event and then head to your tent when we light up the fire at 9:00 PM, when PfP wraps up.\u00a0 Everyone loves a fire, and you can enjoy some relaxation and conversation with friends.\u00a0 At least until we kick you out at 11:00.\u00a0 Look, we may all be pleasant weirdos, but we aren\u2019t jobless freaks – we all have stuff to do in the morning, right?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Photos from past Pints for Pups Festivals<\/em><\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t yet, buy your tickets now<\/a>.\u00a0 Everyone gets a complimentary PfP glass, over 75 varieties of beer, wine, and booze to sample, a full cash bar for full pours and mixed drinks, food trucks and vendors to shop, and live music.\u00a0 Buy or upgrade to VIP tickets and get extra stuff like VIP only tented table seating, food truck vouchers, and full beer pours.\u00a0 Did we mention you can bring your friendly, leashed, well-behaved dog?<\/p>\n

Better yet, go nuts and become a business or individual sponsor of the event to get recognition benefits, extra VIP tickets, and know you\u2019ve done just a little bit more to help animals <\/em>than the other pleasant weirdos around you.\u00a0 Hey, we\u2019re not above playing on ego if it saves a life.\u00a0 But if you\u2019re OK with not<\/em> saving more puppies and kitties and just want to do the bare minimum, that\u2019s between you and the pet you have to look in the eye.<\/p>\n

C’mon, all this and you can bring your dog?\u00a0 What else do you need – a limo, and we pay you to come?<\/p>\n

Is a week out a little late to decide we\u2019re the Glastonbury of Beer Fests?\u00a0 Sure.\u00a0 But Glastonbury started out in 1970 when 1,500 people saw T. Rex headlining.\u00a0 In 1971, 12,000 tickets saw David Bowie headlining.\u00a0 Last year, 200,000 people saw The 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo.\u00a0 Which people had the better story to tell?\u00a0 Get in on the ground floor this year and get the t-shirt to prove you were there and heard of it first.\u00a0 Next year, you might not be able to get as close to the stage!\u00a0 Does anyone have Olivia\u2019s number by any chance?\u00a0 I\u2019d kinda like to have her play.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The slightly less tiny Clash homage shirt designed by Adrienne Trafford for HPA!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

My tiny 13 year Clash tee (still worn by my daughter!)<\/p><\/div>\n

Postscript:<\/em>\u00a0 OK. What\u2019s the deal with all the Joe Strummer?\u00a0 Well, we really like him.\u00a0 OK, again.\u00a0 Well, I <\/em>really like him, I have since I was 12. \u201cWhat would Joe Strummer do?\u201d might be as much a guiding principle as any at HPA.\u00a0 He saw and called out injustice, especially against the most powerless, but was realistic that it took work, not just songs and slogans.\u00a0 Sounds a little like HPA, right?\u00a0 At his core, \u201cHe was very humane,\u201d as Steve Diggle of The Buzzcocks said of him after he passed away in 2002 from an undiagnosed heart defect.\u00a0 The last thing he did before he died suddenly on his couch at home?\u00a0 He had walked his dogs.\u00a0 Am I not<\/em> going to make homage HPA t-shirts, dedicate our live music events to his memory<\/a>, or name one of a kind project like the soon to be under construction Joe Strummer Memorial Garden & Turtle Nirvana<\/a> after him?\u00a0 As if.<\/em><\/p>\n

I happened to start working at Humane PA in 2002, the year Joe died.\u00a0 It\u2019s not going too far to say that his legacy is not only his music, but what it inspired and resulted in through the work of HPA.\u00a0 They say not many saw The Clash live in England, but they all started a band.\u00a0 I was lucky enough to see The Clash play.\u00a0 I say the same is true in America, except we all started a charity and tried to improve the world.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I\u2019m always yammering on about Joe.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll bear with me, as one pleasant weirdo to another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Karel Minor, Humane Pennsylvania President & CEO (and aging Punk!) A funny thing happened on the way to bringing back Humane PA\u2019s Pints for Pups (PfP) after an 8-year break.\u00a0 It kind of became something else.\u00a0 PfP had always been a big, fun party with lots of drinks, food, and live music.\u00a0 But …
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