(Courtesy Brewers Association)

The Great American Beer Festival, or simply the GABF as it’s known in the biz, returns to the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, on October 10-12, 2024. And tickets to this massive celebration of craft beer are now available.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records there is no other place on earth where  beer fans can find more beers to sample than at the GABF.

The GABF’s three days of tasting sessions offers visitors the opportunity to drink their way across America’s brewing landscape, and they’ll have access to thousands of different beers from the nation’s finest breweries.

(Courtesy Brewers Association)

This fall, the GABF will offer three sessions and debut an entirely new floor plan. Breweries will be grouped by themed experience areas of their choice. These curated experience areas are designed to transport festivalgoers to different worlds, each offering a unique blend of themed décor, specialized beverages, engaging activities, and vibrant entertainment.

Themed areas include Prost!, a traditional German Biergarten; Score!, a sports-lovers escape; Halloween, a timely October-themed experience that will delight and fright; Blast Off, an out-of-this- world flavor blast featuring beyond beer beverages and more; Meet & Mingle, a reinvented Meet the Brewer experience; and Chill, a backyard gathering with music, lawn games, and exclusive brews.

And while beers such pumpkin ales, West-Coast style and hazy IPAs, barrel-aged beers, sour ales, chocolate beers, will remain at the center of the world’s largest beer event, this year’s three-day gathering is casting an even wider net to include ciders, canned cocktails, hard seltzer, hard soda, hard tea, hard kombucha, other malt-based beverages, and all non-alcohol beverages.

“Beer is still the star of the show, Ann Obenchain at the Brewers Association, the Boulder-based trade group that hosts the festival told Axios, “but we also know for our younger customers and younger attendees they are interested in an overall experience. We’ve seen many festivals shutter, and as we tell our breweries as a trade association, you have to keep reinventing yourself to be relevant.”

Other changes include The elimination of the Saturday night session altogether. That night was the brewers least favorite with severely “overserved”  attendees sometimes getting a little two wild.

Also the “members-only session” popular among homebrewers and industry pros on Saturday afternoon is now open to the general public.

(Courtesy Brewers Association)

In addition, attendees can look forward to:

• PAIRED, an uber-interesting opportunity inspired by the Brewers Association’s discontinued SAVOR, where acclaimed chefs unite with beverage purveyors to design small bites perfectly paired with craft beers, craft cocktails, and cider. (tickets sold separately)
• Nonstop entertainment, including pop-up surprises like flash mobs, marching bands, oompah bands, stein-holding contests, and more.
• The return of fan-favorite Hangouts, including the Silent Disco and the Karaoke Stage.
• A commemorative, collectible, tasting glass.
• Engaging with industry experts and brewers via seminars and other educational opportunities.

So if you’ve never attended a Great American Beer Festival get ready to have your minds blown.

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