Something's Brewing this Weekend in Downtown Laconia...

NH COFFEE FESTIVAL -- All Things Coffee! DOWNTOWN, this Saturday Sept. 14th from 1-5 p.m. free admission rain or shine           The Main Street Initiative aims to wake up downtown by staging the first ever New Hampshire Coffee Festival sponsored by the Bank of New Hampshire this Saturday, September 14, from 1 - 5 p.m. John Moriarty, president of the organization, said that as home to three coffee roasting enterprises, Laconia was the ideal venue to celebrate one of the most popular beverages in the world.  Altogether nine coffee roasters will be among the more than two dozen vendors at the event offering coffee in all its many guises as well as "everything coffee," including popcorn, cup cakes, ice cream and even soap. Entertainment will feature the music of the Jonathan Lorentz Trio playing their own brand of what Moriarty called "coffee house jazz."  The Grace Capital Church will stage the "Java Games," a series of coffee sack races, coffee bean bag tossing and coffee tic-tac-toe capped by a coloring contest.  "There is something for all ages," Moriarty said.   Nate, 13, and Derek, 11, who work with their Dad, Jim Daubenspeck, at his Main Street shop, LaBelle's Shoe Repair, sneak in some intense training for the coffee bean sack race.  The race will be one of the premier contests of the Java Games, a family-friendly component of the inaugural, statewide, N. H. Coffee Festival to be held Saturday September 14, 2013.  There will be talk about how to brew a great cup of coffee - and what makes the difference! Dan Demers owner of D Squared Java of Exeter, New Hampshire will present a demonstration of "latte arts," or carving decorations to embellish a cup of latte. Of course there will be a place to sit and just enjoy the coffee and the ambiance! Moriartiy said that "building community before commerce is the mantra of the Main Street Initiative and a festival celebrating the most social and convivial of drinks provides an occasion for people to come together and share a common experience.  At the same time, he said that the festival is part of the Main Street Initiative's fundraising campaign, which aims to enhance the holiday lighting downtown as well as provide a scholarship to a start-up business.