PAWCATUCK — Cottrell Brewing Company has something pretty pretentious to offer both art- and beer-lovers this upcoming Labor Day weekend.

The Mechanic Street-based company will present its first-ever two-day “Incredibly Pretentious Art Festival” on Saturday, Sept. 4, and Sunday, Sept. 5, from 1-7 p.m. each day. 

Organized by artist Tom Sanford, the I.P.A. Festival will feature art by 20 local artists, including Sanford, and take place over Labor Day weekend at the Brewery.

Sanford, who has summered in Charlestown since 1976, has had a long relationship with Cottrell. He has enjoyed their beer since shortly after the brewery was founded in 1997. In recent years, said Sanford, who is a “prolific consumer of Cottrell,” he has become a sort of unofficial artist-in-residence at the brewery, having painted a mural on location as well as several other canvases in an effort to stay on top of his mounting tab at the brewery’s tap room.

The Incredibly Pretentious Art Festival, he said, inspired by Cottrell’s Incredibly Pretentious Ale, aims to engage the local community with local art and artists.

Some of the artists showcasing their work include Stabby McGoo, WORMO, Ryan Whiston, Andrea Lawl Manning, R. Douglas Rice, Alex Castaldi, Shelley Reynolds, Chaz Well, Sue McNally and Gabrielle Shea.

“Each has been invited to create and exhibit whatever they damn well please in the large industrial space of the fully operational brewery,” Sanford said in a statement. “The artists vary widely in age, medium and approach, and the festival promises to be a ‘Big Hot Mess.'”

“While we cannot be sure what we will see as far as the art is concerned,” said Sanford in a statement, “we are quite confident there will be a lot of it and it promises to look great, especially after a cold Cottrell beer.”

Admission is free and both beer and art will be available for purchase.

“All ages welcome,” he added. “Twenty-one years and up to indulge in the beer, but anyone can enjoy the art.”