Great American Beer Festival: Return to in-person gathering in 2022

Postponed | The Great American Beer Festival (GABF), one of the largest beer festivals in the US, will skip its public event in 2021 and return in person to celebrate its 40th anniversary October 6-8, 2022 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. Despite vaccination efforts and the gradual reopening of the country, the health and safety concerns for large indoor gatherings, like GABF’s 60,000-attendee event, remain.

As previously announced, the Brewers Association will host the 2021 GABF competition and awards ceremony that typically coincides with the festival. Winners of the world’s most prestigious professional beer competition will be revealed during the Brewers Association’s annual Craft Brewers Conference® & Brew Expo America® on September 10, 2021 at the Colorado Convention Center. The awards ceremony will be livestreamed from the Bellco Theatre on The Brewing Network.

Despite the festival cancellation, beer lovers across the country will have the opportunity to participate in a national passport program September 17 through October 17, 2021. Passport holders will have exclusive access to deals at participating breweries nationwide. More than 1,100 breweries from all 50 states participated in the inaugural program last year. Passports are priced at USD 20 and will be available for purchase in July. Brewery registration for the 2021 passport program opens June 29 at https://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/.

Denver Beer Week, the Mile High City’s annual event coinciding with GABF, will shift its dates to correspond with the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) September 9-12. From September 10-18, the nine-day celebration of craft beer, hosted by Visit Denver, is anticipated to feature more than 200 events including tap takeovers, rare beer tastings, meet the brewer events, and more.