The story
Great American Beer Festival in Denver
The Great American Beer Festival, founded by brewer Charlie Papazian in 1982 with just 24 participating breweries, has grown into the largest ticketed beer festival in the United States, hosted annually by the Brewers Association in Denver each late September or early October. For 2026, the festival is moving from its long-time home at the Colorado Convention Center to an outdoor setting at Levitt Pavilion despite community pushback against the change.
In June 1982, at the American Homebrewers Association's annual conference in Boulder, Colorado, brewer and association founder Charlie Papazian organized a modest beer festival alongside the conference: 24 breweries pouring 47 beers for about 800 attendees, at a moment when America's craft brewing industry barely existed in its modern form.