Oregon Brewers Festival


Oregon Brewers Festival is a four-day craft beer festival held annually since 1988 at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon, except 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic caused it to be cancelled. OBF has become the most popular outdoor beer festival in North America, based on attendance.
Admission is free, but to sample the festival's beers, attendees, provided they're at least 21, must purchase that year's OBF tasting glass as well as $1 beer tokens— each token is good for a sample that has varied in volume over the years, while a "full pour" costs 4 tokens.
Each brewery brings one beer. OBF also features a root beer garden, which offers free root beer for designated drivers and minors; the latter must be accompanied by a parent.

History

YearSample
size
19916 oz
19946 oz
19965 oz
19976 oz
20015 oz
20024 oz
20036 oz
20054 oz
20074 oz
20104 oz
20124 oz
20133 oz
20143 oz

Live music was introduced in 2001.
In 2005, OBF expanded from a three-day schedule to four, adding Thursday.
The 2011 Oregon Brewers Festival featured 85 craft beers from 14 states; it attracted 80,000 people over four days. Nearly 2,000 volunteers worked at the festival, selling tokens and pouring beer, among other tasks.
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. The previous year's mug was replaced by a glass, which reduced the size of a full pour. 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.
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.
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.
In 2020, the event was cancelled for the first time in history caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; the 33rd was deferred to 2021.

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.