Council approves Beef, Beans & Bluegrass festival permit and special liquor license for Backeracks

The Scottsbluff City Council approved a community festival permit for the Beef, Beans & Bluegrass Festival scheduled for Aug. 23, 2025, and separately approved a special designated liquor license for Racks Sports Bar LLC d.b.a. Backeracks to serve beer, wine and spirits at the Eighteenth Street Plaza during the event.

Festival organizer Amy Westfall told the council the event was returning for a second year and that last year’s attendance was about 6,500 people. The requested permit included vendor space, a noise permit and closure of portions of Broadway and Seventeenth and Eighteenth Streets from Avenue A to First Avenue between 7 a.m. and 8:30 p.m.; festival activities in the plaza were planned from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Westfall said the organizers would use barricades and staffing to prevent vehicles from entering the closed area and confirmed they had used similar measures successfully in the prior year.

Backeracks co-owner Tammy Cooley said the bar would staff ID checks at entry gates and use non-glass servingware. She said staff would card patrons, use wristbands to identify those over 21, and stage a final call to stop serving before the event ended so patrons could finish purchased drinks.

Council members discussed barricading alleys to prevent vehicles from entering festival areas and confirmed that organizers had deployed similar traffic control measures the previous year. The council voted to grant the festival permit and to approve the special designated liquor license for Backeracks for the stated date and hours.