Old Man Winter may have held Moses Lake in his icy grip recently, but he unclenched long enough Saturday for folks to enjoy music, beer and sunshine at the Brews & Tunes event downtown.

More than 200 people bought tickets to the event, which involved making the rounds through nine downtown businesses. Each business had a brewery offering samples of two or more of its favorite ales and lagers, as well as a local musical act performing for the tasters. Musicians donated their time, but most of them had an open instrument case to accept tips, which listeners happily supplied.

Money raised from downtown events goes towards downtown revitalization projects, things like the flowerpots and banners, business recruitment, retail promotions and events throughout the year, according to Michaelle Boetger, executive director of the Moses Lake Business Association, which sponsored the event. Exact figures for money raised weren’t available at press time.

“In April we have a Sip & Stroll planned and we’ll partner and assist with the Moses Lake Spring Festival and the Freedom Fest. This fall brings us the Harvest Festival, an expanded event for trick-or-treating, downtown tree lighting and the Agricultural Parade. And maybe another Brews & Tunes event? I think the community would love that,” Boetger said.

Heather Adkinson, who staffed one of the two starting points for the event at Body Benefitz (the other was at Youth Dynamics), was thrilled with the response. The event began at 1 p.m. and by 2:30 they were nearly sold out, she said.

According to Boetger, businesses that participated were Michael’s Bistro, Body Benefitz, Red Door Café, Miller’s Fine Jewelers, Settler’s Country Market, Eden Salon, Artgarden Pottery, the Smith Martin Building and Simmer. Local musicians included Thief of Hearts, Free Beer Nuts, Jeffrey Ames, Ty Huck, Rylei Franks, L. J. Polmateer, Michelle Payne, Memory Lane, Nick and Nathan Fisher and Brian Bridges. Breweries represented were Ten Pin of Moses Lake, Dog Haus Brewery of Leavenworth, Rocky Coulee Brewing from Odessa, St. Brigid’s Brewery of Moses Lake, Badger Mountain from Wenatchee and Yakima Craft Brewing. Beer was also served from Bale Breaker Brewing of Yakima, No-Li Brewhouse from Spokane and Silver City Brewing from Silverdale, Wash.

Musician Ty Huck, who played acoustic guitar and sang at his stepmother’s business, Eden Salon, was performing for the first time in about five years, he said. ““I’m from Seattle, came to Moses Lake in August. This just fell into my lap.”

Sherry Russell and Kayla Kudrna, who were serving samples for Ten Pin, described the crowd as “very steady.” Taylor Chalfront of Yakima Craft Brewing, saw it differently. “We’ve had rushes after rushes,” since 1 p.m., he said. “They’re kind of moving in herds.”

“It was so fun to walk around and talk with participants and especially the downtown merchants who opened up their stores to crowds of people, to breweries and to the musicians,” said Boetger. “It’s always a challenge making all that happen but we did it. We even had full bands in three downtown businesses and worked out well. Everyone seemed happy and was having a good time, I heard from some that they enjoyed the stores, having live music and just loved to get out of the house for something fun to do in town. They usually have to travel out of town for an event like this. I hope we’ll do this event again.”