Bingo! Market Brewing Company is now the first brewery in Ontario to get a bingo licence.
The Newmarket-based brewery will officially be offering bingo as an addition to its line-up of events and fundraisers that include live music, comedy nights and trivia. Starting on Sept. 1, Market Bingo! will take place every Thursday at 7 p.m.
"These nights will give guests a chance to win prizes and money while enjoying some Market Brewing beers or various other beverages. Bingo Nights will also see local food trucks setting up shop for guests to try some great food too! Most importantly, a portion of the money to play bingo will be given to various local charities," said Piers Simpkin in a news release.
A new charity will be selected each month to benefit from the fundraising, as he said the charity sector has been hard hit during the pandemic.
It has been a long road for Market Brewing to get its class C bingo license, a process that began in November 2020. Simpkin said a charity bingo night was halted when the brewery learned it needed a licence to run that kind of event. After that an attempt to hold a virtual bingo night to help counter the effects of the lockdown was shut down for the same reason.
"The process to obtain the licence brought lots of learning, patience and some challenges but the team’s determination never wavered. There were application fees, documentation to fill out, letters of support from the charities, public notices in local papers and support needed from municipality in which they overwhelming supported this notion brought forth by the brewery despite some objections from another business," Simpkin said.
After council voted in its favour, the brewery began many meetings and taking the steps to get its licence. It was determined that a class C license is the best fit for what the brewery wants to do, holding just one bingo night per week. Finally the application for the licence was approved at the end of August.
To celebrate Market Bingo! the brewery has come out with a new beer call Goliath Cold Pale Ale. A cold pale ale is between a pale ale and a lager. It is fermented colder for a crisp finish and then also goes through a cold lagering process.
Bingo will be hosted live with five rounds that guests can play while enjoying music, beer, and a bite to eat.
