OLD TOWN — Summer's just about over, but one last festival will require some participants to kick off their shoes.
The 11th Crush in Old Town on Wells Street will again focus on grapes with a grape-stomping competition and extensive wine tasting.
New this year is a mac 'n cheese competition between seven Wells Street restaurants that will each whip up a specialty dish for the two-day festival.
More than 30 wines from all over the world will be available for sampling along with more than 25 craft beers.
The wine-tasting competition will put teams of two shoeless contestants in vats filled with grapes in a race to fill half a glass of wine with juice.
The stomp-off will be open to the public, but is limited to eight teams a day. Registration is on-site, and the competition starts at 2 p.m on the main music stage.
The festival will be held on Wells between North Avenue and Schiller Court starting at noon Saturday and Sunday.
Festgoers will get to judge the mac n' cheese competition by texting their votes.
Samples from the seven participating restaurants — Dinotto Ristorante, O'Brien's Restaurant & Bar, Adobo Grill, Benchmark, Fireplace Inn, Kamehachi and Orso's Restaurant — will be available for $2 each.
Not to be outshined by cheese or grapes, the festival's list of craft beers available for sampling is extensive.
Participating breweries include Goose Island, Central Waters Brewing Company, Summit Organic Ale, Uncommon Brewers, Brooklyn Brewing, Uinta Brewing, Brewery Ommegang, Flossmoor Station Brewery, Off Color Brewing, Ale Syndicate Brewers, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, Tallgrass Brewing Company, 3 Sheeps Brewing and Virtue.
Passes for up to 15 beers or wines are available in advance through Ticketfly for $40, or for $45 at the fest.
The schedule of live music is below:
Saturday
3:30 p.m. - Rod Tuffcurls & The Bench Press
5:30 p.m. - Trippin Billies
8 p.m. - Wedding Banned
Sunday
1 p.m. - Elenna Sindler
3 p.m. - Fortunate Sons
5 p.m. - Generation
7 p.m. - The Business
