When the Brewers Association first announced it was moving the Great American Beer Festival outdoors for the first time in the festival’s over-40-year history, there was much hand wringing over the unpredictability of Denver weather and whether the smaller size meant the beginning of the end of one of the country’s most famous beer festivals.
The Great American Beer Festival is organized by the Brewers Association, the trade association representing America’s small and independent breweries. It has been held in five different venues since its inaugural edition in 1982. Since 2000, the event, one of the largest beer festivals in the United States, has been held at the Colorado Convention Center.
At its peak, the annual festival held four sessions and welcomed over 40,000 beer lovers, many of whom travelled from across the country and even internationally to attend the event. In recent years, consumer interest in the event has been waning. Some industry watchers observed that consumers were more interested in smaller, more intimate and more focused beer festivals.
At its peak popularity, tickets for the Great American Beer Festival would sell out in minutes. But as consumers lost interest in large tasting events, the Great American Beer Festival reduced the number of sessions and changed the format from being geographically organized to having theme areas.
In 2025, about 28,000 people tasted beers from between 350 and 400 breweries over three days.
A Festival For The Future
“Beer plus drinking it outdoors, what could be better?” said Ann Obenchain, vice-president, marketing and communications of the Brewers Association by video call. “We are following the trends. People want to be outside with nature, particularly beer drinkers aged 21 to 35.”
While the festival will only have two sessions, one each on October 10 and 11, with attendance limited to 7,500 attendees per session, Obenchain says 2o26 is a reset year. With the change in venue and the resulting change in logistics, a smaller event is easier to organize. But if the event is as successful as the Brewers Association hopes, it can grow from there.
“We represent our brewery members. Breweries are evolving their businesses all the time,” said Obenchain. “We are evolving the festival to reflect our brewery members.”
A Renewed Focus On Beer
For 2026, attendance by breweries will be limited to between 200 and 220 breweries. About 160 breweries have already registered to pour at the festival, representing about 30 states.
Obenchain said about 75% of attending breweries will have won a Great American Beer Festival or World Beer Cup medal and will pour that award-winning beer. Breweries will have their own staff pouring beers, rather than festival volunteers, giving attendees and opportunity to ask questions and learn about the beers. Organization of the breweries will return to grouping by geographic regions.
The Awards
Along with the beer festival, beers from across the United States are judged and medals awarded. In years past, the announcement of the medal winners–one of the most prestigious brewing awards in the United States–was held during the beer festival and in the festival hall. But as the awards grew, the awards celebration had to be moved to a separate theatre at the Colorado Convention Center.
With the move of the beer festival to the outdoor venue, the Great American Beer Festival Awards celebration will return to being part of the festival. “Levitt Pavilion has an amphitheatre with a covered stage,” said Obenchain. “The awards ceremony will begin at 12:30 p.m. during the Sunday session. It’s free with admission and it will be great for festival goers to enjoy the energy of the awards along with the brewers.”
Tickets for the 2026 Great American Beer Festival go on sale at 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time on June 25 on the festival website.
