Alys Beach Crafted, November 11 to 15: The Free Hours and the Ticketed Evenings

On Friday night, November 13, a row of 11-gallon kegs will be tapped in Central Park. Nobody knows yet how the beer inside will taste, and that includes the people who brewed it. That unknown is the whole idea behind the Firkin Fête, and it fits the festival around it. Alys Beach Crafted is built to put the people who make things in the same room as the people who taste them.

The calendar sets one more detail. Most of Crafted's rooms are small and need a ticket. One part is free and open to anyone, and it doesn't open until Friday afternoon. For a neighbor in Alys Beach, it's the hinge of the week.

The festival's own site lists the 2026 dates as November 11 through 15, and the ticket page on BigTickets gives the same window. Proceeds go to the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County, the nonprofit behind arts education, advocacy and funding across the county.

Two days of ticketed rooms before the open door

The schedule is easiest to read as a map of the town, with each event set in a specific place.

Most of those rows need a ticket. Crafted posts sales on BigTickets, and 30A.com noted in September that several events have limited capacity. For the Firkin Fête, the festival's policy says tickets are non-refundable and can't be moved from one event to another, so pick your evening before you buy.

Wednesday and Thursday happen at the table

The week starts small. On Wednesday, November 11, the 30A Songwriters Session fills the Red Loggia at Caliza. The Cultural Arts Alliance presents it, and a singer-songwriter plays songs and tells the stories behind them, with drinks and light bites. 30A.com describes it as bringing the spirit of the 30A Songwriters Festival to Alys Beach.

Thursday splits the town three ways, with all three Experiential Dinners starting at 5 p.m. You can only attend one of them.

• Red Loggia at Caliza. Birmingham chef Rob McDaniel of Helen and Bayonet cooks a family-style, multi-course dinner built on Southern cooking and live fire. José Medina Camacho of Adiós Bar and Salud Birmingham pours cocktails made with Foursquare Rum Distillery spirits.
• George's at Alys Beach. Chef Camille Withall cooks a multi-course dinner of Gulf ingredients with global influences. Nicole Greenwell of Pearl & Horn mixes the cocktails from the Brown-Forman portfolio.
• The Summerhouse at The Silva. Chef Drew Dzejak and the Alys Beach Culinary team pair a multi-course dinner with Menagerie wines, served among David Yarrow's photography.

Each of these is a seated meal in one room, with seats set by the room's size. The dinners open the festival, but they also make up the most closed-off night of the week.

Friday at 2 p.m., the Amphitheatre opens to everyone

The free part of Crafted starts Friday afternoon. The Holiday Makers Market opens at the Alys Beach Amphitheatre from 2 to 4:30 p.m. on November 13. It returns Saturday and Sunday, November 14 and 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It's free and open to the public. Regional artisans sell handcrafted goods there, with live music, and Santa sits for photos from noon to 2 p.m. on both weekend days.

It's the only Crafted event that runs on three separate days, and the only one with no ticket. That changes how a neighbor might plan the weekend. A Saturday morning walk to the Amphitheatre for early holiday shopping needs no purchase and no reservation. If a household wants the Santa photo, Saturday or Sunday between noon and 2 p.m. is when to go. Friday's session is shorter, it's the only weekday window, and it overlaps the start of Cocktails & Clay down the way.

Cocktails & Clay is the most hands-on event of the week. The Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County leads it, and local ceramicist Sarah Bumanglag guides each guest through making two clay vessels. The pieces are then professionally glazed and kiln-fired. Its event page lists Friday, November 13, at 2:30 p.m. at The Summerhouse at The Silva in its header, but the description on the same page says November 14 from 3 to 5 p.m., with doors at 2:30. Check the date with the organizers before blocking off an afternoon.

Friday night and Saturday afternoon belong to the makers

Once the market closes on Friday, the evening moves to Central Park. The 6th Annual Firkin Fête runs from 6:30 to 9 p.m. It's for ages 21 and up, all food and drink is included, and it goes ahead rain or shine. The dress code is casual, and the organizers recommend flat shoes on the lawn. Firkins of beer from local and regional breweries share the park with dishes from chefs across the Southeast. The event description bills live music from Scott T. Smith, while the info table on the same page still lists the music as to be announced.

The 2026 brewer lineup isn't on that page. The festival's participants page still shows the 2025 roster, which gives a sense of who these evenings attract. Last year's Firkin Fête brewers were Idyll Hounds, NoFo Brew Co., Urban South, Grayton Beer Company and Perfect Plain. Several of those names come from close to home, which suits a festival that sends its proceeds back into Walton County's arts.

Saturday afternoon moves to the North Sea Garden Walk for the Spirited Soirée, from 1 to 4 p.m. on November 14. It's a progressive tasting where mixologists and distilleries pour craft cocktails and spirits. Guests meet the makers and hear how each drink was put together. The 2025 Soirée drew St. Augustine Distillery, Distillery 98, St. George Spirits and Fosforo Mezcal, with Alys Beach Club mixologist Adam Sims and George Bistro + Bar mixologist Nicole Greenwell among the participants.

The Soirée starts while the Saturday market is still open, and the market closes an hour after the Soirée begins. Someone with a Soirée ticket can stop by the Amphitheatre in the morning and still make the garden walk by one.

A month after Isaias

This Crafted will be a little different from earlier years. Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin at about 8:30 p.m. on Friday, October 9, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The 30A.com recovery roundup from October 13 still listed Alys Beach Crafted for November 11 to 15 among the fall events ahead. The same roundup reported that Watersound Origins Porchfest had moved to October 25 because of the storm, and it asked readers to check with organizers for any post-storm changes.

Crafted has been part of the fall calendar here for five years. This year it opens 33 days after landfall, and its proceeds stay in Walton County. Before setting a date aside, three details on the official schedule are worth checking.

1. The closing day. Crafted's own site and BigTickets list November 11 to 15, while the Alys Beach events calendar lists November 11 to 14. Sunday's market hours appear on the festival site.
2. The Cocktails & Clay date. Its page gives both Friday the 13th and Saturday the 14th.
3. Any storm-related changes. The festival site and the BigTickets page are the places to check close to the date.

If you're planning a Crafted evening this year, whether you're choosing between the three Thursday dinners or hosting guests for the Firkin Fête, LaFlure & Vice would be glad to help you plan the week around Alys Beach. Request a personalized consultation, and we'll share what we know about the rooms, the walks between them, and the quieter hours in town.