2026 Festival Schedule
The festival will take place at Levitt Pavilion in Denver, Colorado.
All Brewery/Booth Staff should be at their booth at least 45 minutes before start time (4:45 pm for the evening sessions, and 11:15 am for Saturday Afternoon)
(when you can get in to set up your booth)
| Event | Day | Brewers Setup Time | Event Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brewers’ Happy Hour | Friday, October 9 | N/A | TBD |
| GABF Session | Saturday, October 10 | 9:00 am – 11:30 am | 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm Last call – 3:45 pm |
| GABF Session | Sunday, October 11 | 9:00 am – 11:30 am | 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm Last call – 3:45 pm |
| Awards Ceremony | Sunday, October 11 | N/A | 12:30pm – 2:00pm (held during festival on Sunday) |
The Great American Beer Festival ices, taps, and pressurizes all draught beer or cider sent in Sankey kegs. The majority of breweries take advantage of our tapping service. If you choose to utilize our tapping service, please do not disassemble or otherwise modify our equipment to meet your needs. If you choose to tap the beverages yourself, please provide all equipment necessary (faucets, taps, lines, CO2, etc.). GABF provides keg containers and ice.
Only beer or cider may be served via our draught system at the festival. All other RTD cocktails, seltzers, hard kombuchas, hard teas, hard sodas, other malt beverages, and non-alcohol or alcohol free beverages must be served as packaged product.
All beverages entered in the festival must be delivered to the GABF host distributor for legal and inventory purposes. Festival beverages received by the host distributor becomes the property of the host distributor for GABF and may not be used for any other purpose such as selling at retail.
GABF only accepts stainless steel or single use plastic kegs. Kegged beer or cider sent in any other format will not be served at the festival. The festival is not able to accommodate any Hoff-Stevens, Golden Gate, or Cornelius kegs.
Each brewery is provided a 6ft. table. While booths are 8-10 ft. deep, the back 2 to 3ft. of the booth are used for keg and draught system storage and should be unencumbered so that our beverage service crew has easy access for delivering, changing, and servicing kegs and draught systems.
Code of Conduct: The Brewers Association strives to provide harassment-free festival experience for everyone. We ask that all participants review our Code of Conduct prior to participating. Costumes, booth décor and beverage names should be respectful of people of diverse backgrounds and cultures and should not contain sexually explicit, lewd, derogatory, or demeaning names, language, text, graphics, photos, video, or other images that reasonable adults would find inappropriate. Harassment in any form, including sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes, is not condoned. If you’re unsure about any element of your display, we’re happy to review ahead of time and avoid any awkward moments on-site. Participants violating these rules may be asked to leave the festival.
Good Neighbor Rule: Anything that impedes traffic flow in the nearby area or encroaches on your neighbors’ booths is not allowed. Please be conscious and respectful of your neighbors’ space.
- All banners or back wall displays should be less than 6ft. wide. Displays wider this will need to be adjusted to fit the booth space and not infringe on neighboring spaces.
- Displays may not restrict the flow of traffic behind the booth. This includes cords, bars, or other tripping hazards. The GABF beverage service team and volunteers use this area to access all booths.
- All displays must be behind the front of the booth and may not extend into the aisles.
- GABF is intended to educate consumers about the quality and diversity of beverage alcohol in the U.S. GABF may, at its sole discretion, request and/or require the removal of any inappropriate displays.
- GABF is not responsible for lost or stolen items. Take important and valuable items with you when you leave each night.
- Complimentary promotional items (with the exception of coasters and stickers, which are prohibited) may be distributed to attendees, but should not be thrown from the booth.
The GABF invites all breweries to decorate their booth and win a prize for the festival booth with the most festival flair. We ask breweries to turn on their festive spirit and craft the most creative booth in the festival hall. The booth with the most festival flair is awarded this prestigious title, a trophy, and a certificate for complimentary competition entries (up to 4 entries) for next year’s GABF. There is an award for best end-cap booth and best in-line booth. Companies must bring all of their items to decorate. We suggest shipping your decorations to your hotel or bringing them by car.
Each year, designated drivers have the ability to enjoy some non-alcohol craft beverage products. If you make non-alcohol beer, soda, or other beverages, we would appreciate your donation to be served at designated non-alcohol pouring stations. Email the GABF Events Team to donate non-alcohol beverages.
Your company will have a 6ft. pouring table. If you submit draught beer or cider to the festival, kegs are tapped at the back of your booth space. Bottles and cans are iced in tubs and placed on a table at the front of your booth. Promotional items and pitchers of water for rinsing tasting glasses are placed on the table. A GABF sign, including your company name, location, and the names of beverages you are serving, hangs on the back wall of your booth.
Festival attendees receive a tasting glass when they enter. Each day thousands of attendees circulate among the booths tasting various beverages. You, your company representatives, or one of our knowledgeable volunteers will pour one-ounce servings and answer questions.
Participating breweries are expected to staff their booth at all times, volunteer pourers will not be provided.
*PLEASE ASSIGN STAFF TO POUR YOUR BEVERAGES AT ALL SESSIONS.
- All company representatives must be 21 years or older and present valid photo ID upon check-in at the festival. Please plan accordingly and allow time to get wristbanded and ID’d onsite before entering the hall. Ages 21+ only. No exceptions.
- Promotion of your product may only occur within the confines of your booth.
- Representatives must maintain sobriety while attending the festival. Any company representative deemed intoxicated during the festival are subject to ejection.
- Representatives must be appropriately clothed during the festival. Appropriate dress is at the sole discretion of GABF.
- Representatives should conduct themselves with appropriate decorum at all times. Activities by a company representative that endanger festival attendees, festival staff or festival vendors, or any activity which is contrary to Colorado law may subject the company representative or the attending company to ejection from the festival at the sole discretion of GABF staff.
- Throwing items (i.e., shirts, cups, etc.) from the booth into the crowd is strictly prohibited.
- Do not leave items of importance in your booth overnight between sessions.
- The Brewers Association is dedicated to presenting GABF beverages in a favorable light. Part of this plan is to provide a safe and secure environment. Make sure that your company representatives are aware of and adhere to the established pour size
- Please do not serve attendees who appear intoxicated. Alert GABF staff or security personnel if needed.
- Beverages shall be served only from behind the tables in the booth space.
Please make sure all of your representatives adhere to these guidelines. Failure to do so will result in warnings and/or expulsion of your company or representatives.
Load in and load out information coming soon…