A Visit to CIGARfest 2018 Main Event

CIGARfest 2018 is in the books and over the next few weeks, Cigar Intel is publishing our take on three events: Pig Roast Chowdown, the Main Event, and Bales & Ales 2.0. Don’t miss the videos in this post so you can get a real feel for the event.

Cigars International‘s CIGARfest 2018 took place from Thursday, May 3rd, 2018 through Sunday, May 6th, 2018 at various locations in Pennsylvania. Most of the events were at Split Rock Resort in Lake Harmony, PA. The remaining events were at the various Cigars International stores in PA. This was the 15th year for the event and CIGARfest is one of the biggest cigar events in the world with 6,000 attendees. As far as cigar events in the United States go, this is one you MUST attend at least once.

The CIGARfest 2018 Main Event took place on both May 4th and 5th, 2018 at the Split Rock Resort, Lake Harmony, PA from 10:30 am – 6:00 pm. What can I say about the Main Event? It is incredible and worth every penny with 50 of the biggest cigar manufacturers, cigarlebrities, live music, food, beer, spirits, oh, and did I mention, cigars?

All tickets included CIGARfest 2018 humidor, a combo backpack/gym bag with 30 premium cigars, more than 50 additional premium cigars during the event, a commemorative CIGARfest 2018 ashtray, liquor and beer samples, a variety of food, live music, and a chance to participate in a raffle with tens of thousands of dollars in prizes. Attendees also had an opportunity to prepurchase an official CIGARfest 2018 shirt and cap which included tons of cigars and swag at the main event. Attendees who prepurchased the shirt received 12 additional premium cigars from Oliva, a Lotus 3-Eleven laser torch, a Colibri Firebird Viper glow-in-the-dark v-cutter, and two Cigars International shot glasses. Attendees who prepurchased the cap received 10 additional premium cigars from Rocky Patel, including Decade, Edge, 20th Aniversary, Super Ligero, and more.

All in, Smokey and I received over 100 cigars each. Here’s some math for you:

• $225 for a Very Important Herfer ticket + $59.99 for an official CIGARfest 2018 shirt + $24.99 for an official CIGARfest 2018 cap = $309.98
• 100 cigars at an average cost of $8.00 = $800
• Conclusion: Bargain!

Cigars, alcohol, food, music, cigar brethren, off-duty strippers, I mean models manning various cigar booths, and a hokey resort in the Poconos. . . what else could we ask for?

The blues band was great. Unfortunately, as with the Pig Roast Chowdown, the music was way too loud. I’m pretty sure the soundman was deaf.

The raffle occurred at the end of the event and some lucky winners walked away with some great prizes, including a full out man cave and a grand prize of a 5 Vegas tricked out Jeep.

Check out the video below for a 360-degree view of the event space and the food tent, a quick look at all the prizes, and more!

Check out all the Cigar Events in the United States HERE.