The Great American Beer Festival returns to Denver on Sept. 21-23, roughly two weeks earlier than last year’s dates, for just its second iteration since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tickets, which cost $95 — the same price as last year — go on sale to the general public today at 10 a.m., but it’s anyone’s guess how quickly they will sell. Between 2012 and 2017, they were one of the hottest tickets in town, selling out within hours, even minutes, online. That began to change in 2018, though, as beer festival fatigue set in. Last year, the first post-pandemic GABF since 2019, tickets were still on sale for some sessions until the days of the event.
The Boulder-based Brewers Association, which hosts GABF, didn’t release the number of tickets available this year — a spokesperson said only that it would be between 40,000 and 50,000 across the four sessions (one each on Thursday and Friday, and two on Saturday). Last year’s ticket number was 40,000 due to the festival floor being one-third smaller than usual; it had previously been 60,000. This year, the square footage will be at 437,000, up from 350,000 in 2022, but down from 584,000 in 2019.
Nevertheless, the festival, which debuted 41 years ago, is expected to be lively, with many of the same activities as always, including a silent disco, karaoke, live music, games, seminars, costume contests and the Paired small-bites dining experience.
One thing that will be very different, however, is that “select breweries” will be officially allowed to pour hard seltzer, as well as cider, kombucha and mead. The change comes as breweries across the country have been diversifying their offerings to appeal to a wider audience.
For more information on the festival, go to greatamericanbeerfestival.com.