I never planned to start a beer festival. In fact, if you told me five years ago that I’d be wrangling food trucks, renting portable toilets, and taste-testing IPAs at 8 a.m., I’d have laughed into my glass. But here we are.
It all started, unsurprisingly, with a love for craft beer. Not just drinking it (though, let’s be honest, that was a major part), but the whole culture—the community, the stories behind the brews, the quirky labels, the passionate brewers who can talk about hops the way sommeliers talk about tannins. Somewhere between brewery visits, beer swaps with friends, and late-night conversations that started with “Wouldn’t it be cool if…”, the idea started to ferment.
From “What If?” to “Let’s Do It.”
The seed was planted during a local beer crawl. It was fun, sure, but overcrowded, overpriced, and lacking that personal touch. My friends and I joked about throwing our own. But the joke stuck. I scribbled notes on napkins. I reached out to a couple of local brewers—just to “gauge interest.” Before I knew it, I’d developed a plan to organize a beer festival. I was looking at venue options and wondering if this whole thing was actually doable.
Spoiler alert: It was. Kind of. But not without a lot of trial and error.
The Planning (aka The Part Where I Almost Gave Up)
Here’s what no one tells you about starting a beer festival: it’s basically event planning on steroids. Permits, insurance, tents, wristbands, volunteer coordination, sound systems, rain plans, trash pickup… the list doesn’t end. I spent evenings hunched over my laptop, cross-referencing local regulations and trying to figure out how many portable toilets are “enough but not too many.”
But one of the smartest decisions I made early on? Using event planning software.
Honestly, I don’t know how anyone could organize a beer festival without it. I used it to manage vendor applications, schedule load-in times, assign booth locations, and even automate guest communications. Instead of drowning in spreadsheets and sticky notes, I had everything in one place—brewer contacts, contracts, floorplans, timelines, ticketing data. Some platforms even let attendees download a mobile app to check beer lists, maps, and music schedules. Total game changer.
The beer festival planning software I used didn’t just keep me sane; it helped the whole team stay on the same page. Volunteers knew where to be. Vendors had clear instructions. I could track tasks, send reminders, and pull up documents on my phone while standing in a muddy field. It made the impossible feel… slightly more possible.
Opening Day Jitters (and Joy)
When the big day arrived, I barely slept the night before. I kept imagining worst-case scenarios: storms, no-shows, kegs not arriving on time, forgetting to get ice. But when I arrived at the venue that morning and saw the tents going up, the banners waving, and the first brewers tapping their kegs—it hit me. This was really happening.
People showed up. Not just my friends and family (though thank god they were there), but actual ticket holders. Beer lovers. Curious locals. Even a guy in lederhosen, which I still haven’t figured out, but I respect the commitment.
The day was a blur of clinking glasses, laughter, spontaneous dance circles, and more than one person yelling “This is awesome!” with foam on their mustache. Did everything go perfectly? Of course not. The PA system cut out halfway through the band’s set and we ran out of napkins. But honestly? It was amazing.
Why I’d Do It Again (And You Can Too)
Starting a beer festival wasn’t easy. But it was one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done. It brought together everything I love—beer, people, creativity, and a little bit of chaos.
If you’re toying with the idea of starting your own, here’s my advice: start small, plan big, and remember that it’s all about the experience. Beer brings people together in the best way. And if you build it (with permits, of course), they will come.