PHOTOS: Vendors of 2022 Beartrap Summer Festival
It's that time of the year again. The Beartrap Summer Festival weekend is upon us and, with it, comes a wealth of music, food, beer, dogs, sun, fun and, yes, vendors!
It's a veritable who's who of merchants at this year's festival and they're selling everything from clothes, to jewelry, to hats, to food...even musical instruments and CBD!
The Funky Junk District is on hand, selling a variety of trinkets and doilies and clothing and hats and so much more.
Or, if you're looking for a massage, North Platte Physical Therapy has set up a table to work out some of those kinks in your back and shoulders.
Allure Boutique could offer you a whole new wardrobe if that's what you're in the market for. Autumn isn't too far away and they could have you dressed like a snug bug in a (very sharp looking) rug.
Grease Monkey BBQ Supply also has a tent up at Beartrap, because if anything goes with camping and music and beer...it's BBQ.
"There wasn't a lot of variety in Casper for BBQ," said Grease Monkey owner, Levi Harper. "You had to drive to different stores and you didn't get a lot of one-on-one to talk BBQ. And since it's a passion of mine, I figured, 'Why not have a little shop?' since it's a passion of mine."
Harper brought that passion up to the mountain with him this weekend, and attendees can get a wide range of supplies, from sauces, to rubs, equipment and more.
But if you're hungry and BBQ's not your style, maybe some freeze-dried fruit is more up your alley. If that's the case, We Selah is the vendor for you.
"Let's start at the beginning," said owner Cabot Peden, owner of We Selah. "Selah is used primarily in the book of Psalms, in the Bible. And Psalms was the hymn book for the Hebrew people. So all of the Psalms are actually songs. Several times throughout Psalms the word 'Selah' is thrown either in the middle of a song or at the end of it. And it's not a word that's used in Hebrew anymore, but it meant, from what we've learned from biblical scholars, to pause and contemplate and reflect on God's goodness and on what God's doing to your life and what you just learned and what you just discovered. So, we Selah. We try to Selah every day."
And part of God's goodness, according to Peden, comes in the form of fruit.
"My wife is from Columbia and she grew up eating thousands of fruits that we've never heard of," Peden said. "And she wanted a way to get them here. We didn't know how to do that. And about a year and a half ago, she was at a convention in Denver and met a lady who invited her into her home. She had a freeze dryer and she was freeze drying everything - marshmallows and circus bars and whatever else. And Hurley's like, 'What if we could figure out how to freeze dry fruits?'"
So, that's what they did. And now they're selling them.
"So we are producing healthy fruit and veggie snacks that are freeze dried," Peden said. "And with the freeze dry, we retain 99% of the nutrition and the flavor. We feel it gets more intense because the water's gone. So it's not polluted flavor anymore."
It's something that needs to be tasted to be believed, and you can get samples up at Beartrap all weekend.
Which is good, because you might find yourself a little hungry after visiting Platte Hemp Company, which also has a tent up at Beartrap.
"Wyoming needs to be more educated on cannabis, I believe," said Platte Hemp owner Alicia Watt. "There's, there's a lot of just mis-education about CBD and cannabis plants. And I feel it's really important that people come in and learn about the medicinal parts of the plant and how good it is for you and how it can help you through so many things, like menopause, depression anxiety, sleep issues, appetite issues, cancer, Alzheimer's, dementia, and more."
And festival-goers can learn all about cannabis and the various benefits of CBD all weekend from Platte Hemp Company, who is actually the major sponsor of the entire event!
"We've just done a lot of work with Townsquare Media," Watt said. "And we're really big supporters of this event and the community. So Townsquare just offered [the opportunity] to us. I thought it was really flattering, to be honest, to be offered the opportunity to be the sponsor."
The Beartrap Summer Festival has many other sponsors as well, including Moser Energy Systems, Hilltop National Bank, Vista Toyota, the McMurray Foundation, Gruner Brothers Brewing, North Platte Physical Therapy, and so many more.
This event is truly a collaboration, and none of it would be possible without the work of countless business and the people who make them up.
That includes the vendors.
There's truly something for everyone at the Beartrap Summer Festival and there's no better place to spend a weekend then up on Casper Mountain. There's music in the air, sun in the sky, and plenty of merch to make sure that this is a weekend you will remember forever.
Check out these pics of just some of the great vendors spending the weekend at the Beartrap Summer Festival.