The Great American Beer Festival®️ (GABF), the country’s preeminent beer festival and competition, will pivot its 2020 event, originally scheduled for September 24-26 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, to an immersive online experience October 16-17. This decision was further confirmed with the announcement on May 20, when Colorado Governor Jared Polis issued an Executive Order temporarily suspending certain statutes to allow the operation of alternate care sites in Colorado due to the presence of coronavirus disease 2019, rendering GABF at the Colorado Convention Center infeasible.
Festival details are still being finalized, but we plan to offer a compelling, schedule of virtual experiences and live activations across the country. Complete festival and ticket details will be announced August 1.
The GABF competition will take place this fall, with an anticipated 7,000+ entries. Awards will be announced on Friday, October 16 via live streaming.
This marks the first cancellation of its kind for GABF, and while we are disappointed to not be gathering in Denver this fall, the health and safety of our attendees, brewers, volunteers, judges, and employees is and always has been our top priority. As the world is still greatly affected by the spread of COVID-19 and will continue to be affected for the foreseeable future, we must stay true to our priorities and pursue other ways to host GABF.
We look to celebrating the annual accomplishments in brewing excellence and look forward to “seeing everyone” this fall.