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BuzzCutt, the drink-finding app for non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beverages that WW highlighted in 2023, has grown into a national presence for anyone with a smartphone. But Portland and the LGBTQ+ community hold a special place in the hearts of founders Sarah and Olivia Sears.
“It really just put us on the map in Portland,” Olivia Sears says of last year’s WW interview.
The app’s launch party last July coincided with Portland’s LGBTQ+ Pride season, which moved from the more traditional month of June to avoid conflict with other celebrations, including the Rose Festival, Father’s Day and Juneteenth, among other reasons. Reaffirming its dedication to the queer community, BuzzCutt’s SummerFest party returns as an officially endorsed celebration by Pride Northwest, the nonprofit organization that throws the city’s weekend waterfront festival July 20–21, with the Pride Parade on Sunday afternoon.
“This year will be even more vibrant, just because we are associating ourselves with Pride and celebrating very intentionally this year,” Olivia Sears says. “People were very emotional about it [last year] because—people came up to us and shared that was the first time that they had been able to experience that kind of joy in a public event like that since they stopped drinking, or tried drinking less.”
“People felt confident, would be a way to describe it,” she continued. “Joyful, radiant, there was such an energy of optimism. Our friends at Victoria Bar say, ‘Spirit-free, but full of life.’”
For Bitter For Worse, a non-alcoholic drink company at Northeast Farragut Street and Rodney Avenue, will host SummerFest on Saturday, July 20 on their production plant’s patio. National, regional and local N.A. and NoLo drink brands—that is, non-alcoholic and low-alcoholic—will be on hand offering swag prizes and guests’ first three drinks free. SummerFest is age restricted to guests 18 and older, making clear that this is not a party for kids.
But, inviting young adults still excluded from the bar scene gives those guests a fun, non-alcoholic setting while they’re still forming their partying habits. Sarah Sears also notes that SummerFest is intentionally not branded as a “sober” party.
“Sobriety holds its own weight and experience, whereas N.A. or alcohol-free really opens up the spectrum to people who are choosing to be mindful about alcohol, or who are choosing not to drink for their own personal reasons,” she says. “But we like to distinguish and speak to alcohol-free because it’s an inclusive space where people can have that access point to experience N.A. or NoLo.”
Along with food served by KOi Fusion, tunes spun by DJ Jess the Ripper, and flash tattoos inked by a to-be-announced sober tattoo artist, SummerFest’s main highlight is a volunteer Jell-O wrestling tournament. It’s too late to sign up this year, so if next year is your time to shine in the ring, you can scope out the competition and see what kind of costumes and lore the amateur wrestlers invent for themselves.
“A lot of outdoor events are also very alcohol driven, so to have a completely outdoor experience that lets you be out in the sun with cold beverage in your hand that happens to be non-alcoholic, allows for a reinventing of what it means to be outside in the sun, enjoying a nice beverage and partying,” Sarah Sears says.
“And watch some Jell-O wrestling, goddammit,” Olivia Sears adds.
GO: BuzzCutt’s SummerFest Alcohol-Free Pride Party at For Bitter For Worse, 100 NE Farragut St., Unit 106A, buzzcutt.co. 5–9 pm Friday, July 20. $10–$40. 18+.