This edition of The Session is sponsored by Geistbear Brew Blog.

Session #16: Beer Festivals

As Summer approaches we are in full swing of beer festival season, so it seemed the perfect topic for the June Session. Do you have a favorite beer festival you like to attend or a particular memory of inspirational moment at a festival? Or perhaps talk about what you would like to see out of festivals or perhaps the future of them.

Sadly, I haven’t been to all that many Beer Fests. I’ve done the Garden State Craft Brewers‘ Festival a couple of times while it was still in Waterloo Village and did the Maryland Brewers Springfest once. And my Dad and I went to the Great Brews of America festival a couple of times.

When one’s weekends are chock full of soccer games, birthday parties, and home improvement projects, it’s tough to find the time. (Priorities, I know.)

If you’re looking for a Festival to go to, though, there are a few resources that can help you find one. If you’re not averse to traveling, you can find a beerfest somewhere every week.

My favorite is The Beer Festivals Calendar. I don’t know how they do it, but they have listings of hundreds of festivals from around the world organized by month. For instance, this weekend you could go to a beerfest in:

• Aberdeen, Scotland
• Grays, England
• Owosso, Michigan
• Southampton, England
• Keswick, England
• Novi Ligure, Italy
• Bitton, England
• Woodchurch, England
• St. Louis, Missouri
• Snowmass Village, Colorado
• New Richmond, Wisconsin
• Crete, Illinois
• Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
• Phoenix, Arizona
• Fayetteville, North Carolina
• New Orleans, Louisiana
• Vichte, Belgium
• Albany, New York
• Idaho Falls, Idaho
• Coral Gables, Florida
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Eugene, Oregon
• Chico, California
• Santa Rosa, California
• Macungie, Pennsylvania

Another really good resource is the Beer Advocate Beer Events & Festivals calendar. The data is entered by members of Beer Advocate, but it has the added attraction of being able to filter the list by location and/or type. The coolest feature of all is the ability for members to indicate that they are going to a particular festival, giving all kinds of opportunities to meet up with fellow beer fans.

The Open Directory Project also has a category for beer events. It is organized by country and only lists websites, so if a favorite fest doesn’t have an online presence it won’t be listed here.

What do you use to find beer fests?