Oregon Brewers Festival
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| Oregon Brewers Festival | |
|---|---|
 The festival in 2007 | |
| Begins | Thursday before last full weekend in July[1] |
| Ends | Last Sunday in July |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Locations | Tom McCall Waterfront Park, Portland, Oregon |
| Years active | 1988–2019, 2022, 2024- |
| Participants | 85,000 (2014)[2] |
Oregon Brewers Festival (OBF) is a four-day craft beer festival held annually from 1988 to 2019 and 2022 at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon, except in 2020-21 when the COVID-19 pandemic and 2023 when low attendance and hot weather from last year caused it to be cancelled.[1] OBF has become the most popular outdoor beer festival in North America, based on attendance.[3] Each brewery brings one beer.[1][4] The attendance peaked in 2014, however it has been declining since.[5] There is a Root Beer Garden for those who are under 21 or abstain from alcohol.
Founder of Portland Brewing Co, Art Larrance,[6] launched the Oregon Brewers Festival in July 1988, after visiting Oktoberfest in Munich and wanting to create a similar atmosphere and experience.[7]
| Year | Sample size[8] |
|---|---|
| 1991 | 6 oz |
| 1994 | 6 oz |
| 1996 | 5 oz |
| 1997 | 6 oz |
| 2001 | 5 oz |
| 2002 | 4 oz |
| 2003 | 6 oz |
| 2005 | 4 oz |
| 2007 | 4 oz |
| 2010 | 4 oz |
| 2012 | 4 oz |
| 2013 | 3 oz |
| 2014[9] | 3 oz |
Live music was introduced in 2001.[10]
In 2005, OBF expanded from a three-day schedule (Friday to Sunday) to four, adding Thursday.[11]
The 2011 Oregon Brewers Festival featured 85 craft beers from 14 states; it attracted 80,000 people over four days.[12] Nearly 2,000 volunteers worked at the festival, selling tokens and pouring beer, among other tasks.[12]
In 2013, OBF added a fifth day, moving the opening to Wednesday; they also replaced the annual plastic mug, which had been used since the festival's beginning, with a tasting glass, which for 2013 costs $7.[11] For 2014, there are 88 beers available, in 30 styles; that does not include the more than 100 available separately in OBF's Specialty Tent.[13]
After two years with tasting glasses made of glass, for 2015, OBF switched to a polycarbonate tasting glass; the change was in response to safety concerns raised by the Portland Police.[2]
In 2018, OBF changed back to a four-day festival, moving the opening to Thursday. That same year, the festival added two hard ciders to the lineup, and four wines –– 2 red and 2 white –– for the first time in the festival's history.[14]
In 2020 and 2021, the festival went on hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic;[15] although it resumed in 2022, it was cancelled in 2023.[15]
Related events
In recent years OBF has anchored a month of beer-related festivals in Portland, including the North American Organic Brewers Festival, the Portland International Beerfest, and the Great American Distillers Festival.[16]
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