(photo @ Brewers Association)

While scanning our Goggle news feed over the weekend we were struck by the sheer number of craft beer festivals that are taking place all over the US.

No matter what is happening with COVID’s Delta variation, mask mandates (or not) and the pro-vaccination vs anti-vaxers crowd, these regional craft beer festivals are increasing, a trend we expect to continue.

Why?

Because America has had it with “sheltering-in-place” and some are looking to reclaim a sense of normalcy, enjoy a couple of serious beers, have some long overdue fun, that’s why.

Craft breweries, brewers guilds and national trade organizations have decided it’s time. Even the Brewers Association is betting on you with its Craft Brewers Conference now scheduled to take place in Denver early September…the Delta variation, be damned.

(Courtesy Colorado Brewers Guild)

And these kinds of events come at a crucial time for an industry that still reeling from the economic impact of the pandemic…they’re important.

Festivals like the many that took place over the weekend help build a vital bond between craft breweries and their fans. And after a year of state-mandated shutdowns, that bond has never been more important, both economically and, well, spiritually.

And we’re not saying these beer gatherings are danger-free, but life comes with risk and people are finally coming around to the reality that Covid-19 is now part of the landscape. Variations may continue, and we’ll just have to live with that.

Lollapalooza returned to Chicago this summer and it was a huge success. More than 111,000 music lovers attended the four day event, daily. And out of nearly 400,000 people who were there, just 203 tested positive for the virus, as NBC Chicago reported.

Again we’re not saying that all of last weekend’s beer festivals were danger free, that infections didn’t occur, but times have changed and the public is ready to go out again, albeit with precautions that many are fine with. And if they aren’t, it’s a free county, no one is forcing anyone to go.

We have never lived in a risk-free world and those risks are constantly changing. But we are glad to see craft beer festival are returning. They’re essential for the beer industry, and we think, good for the soul…