The Winter Beer Festival took place on Saturday, February 22, 2020 at Fifth Third Ballpark, Comstock Park. Stay tuned for details for next year's festival!

About the Event:

The 2020 Winter Beer Festival featured 133 Michigan breweries and brewpubs and nearly 850 beers. For all of our festivals, each guest ticket comes with 15 tasting tokens which guests can exchange for 3 oz. samples (note that some specialty beers will require 2 or more tokens per 3 oz. sample). Guests also enjoy fine music from local bands, other entertainment, ice sculpture demonstrations, and fire pits to warm up by. A selection of tasty food is available for purchase at the festival.

Early Admission:

Michigan Brewers Guild Enthusiast members are invited to enter the festival one hour early (@ noon on Saturday). You must present a valid membership card to enter early. Memberships can be purchased online from our web store.

Transportation:

Details of public transportation options will be added closer to the event.

Token Policy:

The Michigan Brewers Guild utilizes drink tokens and specially marked cups to assure that we comply with Michigan Liquor Control Commission regulations. Festival attendees are expected to willingly provide a token for each and every sample of beer received. We appreciate your cooperation.

15 drink tokens are included with admission and each drink token is redeemable for a 3 oz. sample of beer. Certain specialty beers may require two or more tokens (on account of MLCC regulations prohibiting the selling of alcohol below cost). Additional tokens will be available inside the festival for 50 cents.

BeerFest List App

Join in with your friends to track and share your beer list with our app from BeerFestList.com

Entertainment:

This year’s entertainment includes Slumlord Radio on the stage from 1:30-3pm, followed the ceremonial tapping of the festival keg and singing of the Michigan Beer Fight Song, then rounding out the day with Stone Soup and the Broken Teeth from 4-5:30pm.

Enthusiast Pre-Sale:

Each year, a ticket pre-sale option is available to Enthusiast members to allow them to secure their ticket(s) up to two days prior to the general public. To participate in the pre-sale, Enthusiast membership must be valid as of ONE MONTH PRIOR to the pre-sale AND have a current, unique email address on file with us.

Each Enthusiast member will be entitled to buy at least one pre-sale ticket, though we may set ticket limits higher depending on the event.

Prior to the pre-sale, Enthusiasts will receive a pre-sale invitation with a link to buy their tickets. Each link is unique and is only good for one completed transaction - so please do not share your Enthusiast pre-sale invitation email with anyone. For technical reasons, we cannot send multiple pre-sale invitations to the same email address, so if you are an Enthusiast member sharing an email address with someone else, you will need to set up a unique email address for yourself if you'd like to participate in the pre-sale.

Festival FAQs:

Q: Is there Parking & Transportation available at the event?

A: Yes, there will be free guest parking in the lots around the ballpark, as well as overflow parking across the street. Ballpark employees will be directing traffic at the event to assist with guest parking. There is overnight parking available but cars must be out of the lot by 3pm on Sunday, February 24. No camping or sleeping in cars overnight is permitted.

Shuttle service from nearby hotels may be available. Contact your hotel for more details.

Uber is also an option in Grand Rapids.

Q: Are there hotels offering packages?

A: Experience Grand Rapids is coordinating with hotels to offer discount codes on rideshare for hotel guests at select hotels. Information will be announced soon.

Q: What is the refund policy?

A: Tickets are non-refundable. The festival will occur rain or shine.

Q: I can no longer attend the event. Can I sell my ticket to someone else, or give it to a friend?

A: Yes, tickets are transferrable and you may sell your ticket to someone else for face value plus whatever service fee was charged by Eventbrite, or less. You may also give your tickets away if you like. There is nothing special you need to do to transfer tickets to another person. Michigan Brewers Guild does not permit scalping of tickets, which is illegal. We reserve the right to invalidate any tickets known to have been scalped. Each bar code will only scan one time.

Q: Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

A: You must bring a ticket with a valid QR or bard code with you to be scanned to allow you entry to the festival. This ticket can either be printed or can be the electronic version accessible on your smartphone or wireless device.

Q: What is considered scalping?

A: Selling tickets for more than face value (plus whatever service fee was charged by Eventbrite) is considered scalping and is against the law. The Michigan Brewers Guild reserves the right to invalidate any tickets discovered to have been scalped. For this reason and others, we strongly encourage you NOT to buy second-hand tickets for which the seller is asking more than face value plus the Eventbrite fee.

Q: I couldn't get a ticket before they sold out and now I want to buy one online. Is that okay?

A: We strongly discourage you from buying a secondhand ticket online from anyone asking higher than face value, or from anyone you don't know and trust. Understand that tickets are emailed to purchasers as PDF files, and there's nothing stopping an unscrupulous individual from selling the same single ticket to many people - but each ticket code will only scan once at the gate. If someone sells you a bad ticket and it does not scan at the gate, you will not be let into the event. The Guild is not responsible for tickets purchased secondhand.

Q: Are there ID requirements or an age limit to enter the event?

A: All festival attendees must be 21 or older to enter, even if they are designated drivers and are not drinking. A valid government ID (driver's license, passport, etc.) is required for festival entry, with NO exceptions.

Q: Are Designated Driver tickets available?

A: Yes - if your group is bringing a non-drinking Designated Driver, your driver will be able to buy a DD ticket for $5. This is a non-drinking ticket and your driver will not be allowed to drink any beer at the event. If a person entering on a DD ticket is found to be drinking at the event, they will be ejected from the festival without a refund. Despite being a non-drinking ticket, your Designated Driver must be 21 years or older to enter the event, and must have valid ID. Once full-price tickets sell out online, DD tickets will no longer be available for purchase online; however, a limited number of DD tickets will still be available for purchase at Will Call at the event, provided that your DD can demonstrate that they are a legitimate Designated Driver accompanying one or more full price ticket-holding guests.

Q: If I enter on a DD ticket and change my mind, can I drink at the festival?

A: No, anyone entering the festival on a Designated Driver ticket will not be served beer or permitted to drink beer at the event. Any marked Designated Driver found to be drinking beer will be immediately ejected from the event. If you want to drink any beer at the festival, you should plan on buying a full-price drinking ticket.

Q: Can I bring my 18-year-old son/daughter with me as a Designated Driver?

A: No, all guests entering the festival must be 21 or older with a valid photo ID, even if they are entering on a non-drinking DD ticket.

Q: Can I bring my baby / young child with me into the event?

A: Children and infants are not permitted under any circumstances, for their own safety and the safety of our guests. Thank you for understanding that these festivals are adult-only events.

Q: Can I leave the festival and come back in later?

A: Yes – guest’s hands will be stamped for re-entry.

Q: Where do I pick up my tokens, cup and festival program?

A: You can pick up these items upon entering the festival.

Q: Why do I need to use tokens if I already paid for a ticket?

A: The Michigan Brewers Guild utilizes drink tokens and specially marked cups to assure that we comply with Michigan Liquor Control Commission regulation and have a controlled means of serving beer. All festivals attendees are expected to willingly provide a token for each and every sample of beer received. Thank you for your cooperation which keeps us in compliance with state law.

Q: Do you have any soft drinks or other non-alcoholic refreshments available for Designated Drivers?

A: There will be orange coolers of water placed throughout the festival for all guests to drink - however, there will not be n/a beverages specifically set aside for DDs. There will be soft drinks and other n/a refreshments for sale at the Concessions area, but guests are also welcome to bring non-alcoholic beverages with them into the event. We encourage you take the comfort of your Designated Driver into consideration when planning for the festival and bring them something extra to drink at the event.

Q: Is there food available at the festival?

A: Yes. We have a handful of food vendors with beer-friendly menu items for purchase. There are also tables and chairs set up around the festival site for you to sit down to enjoy your meal.

Q: What items am I allowed to bring into the festival with me?

A: Guests may bring food and non-alcoholic beverages with them into the event provided that nothing is in a glass container. Backpacks, hydration packs, coolers, folding camp chairs, small 10x10 maximum sized tents, picnic blankets and umbrellas are allowed. The following items are NOT permitted on festival grounds: outside alcohol, glass containers, grills, portable heaters, children, animals*, bicycles, skateboards, rollerskates/rollerblades, strollers or motorized vehicles.

*With the exception of licensed service dogs as required by the state of Michigan: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdcr/FAQs-12-27-16_546656_7.pdf

Q: What are the restroom facilities like at the festival?

A: We have dozens of outdoor port-o-johns set up at the festival, no inside bathrooms are available.

Q: Are there ATMs inside the festival for me to get cash for food, swag and additional tokens?

A: No. There are no ATMs inside the festival, so we encourage you to bring cash with you – especially for the food vendors. The merchandise tent does accept credit cards for swag and additional tokens.

Q. I’d like to exhibit at the festival, is that allowed?

A. No. The Michigan Brewers Guild festivals are limited to our member breweries so no outside vendors (profit or not-for-profit) are allowed. Nor do we allow the handing out of any literature, promotional material, swag or other items by the general public or businesses other than our participating members.

Q. I’d like to bring my food truck or other catering business to the festival, who do I contact?

A. The Michigan Brewers Guild works with its own member breweries that offer food trucks and/or catering options to provide food for our attendees. We do not contract with other independent companies for this service.

Media:

If you are qualified member of the media and would like to request special access to the Michigan Winter Beer Festival, you can download the form below. If granted, you will be eligible for two (2) passes for Saturday and can get in to the event one (1) hour prior to the general public. Submission of the form does not guarantee access as a set of criteria must be met (including an active website and minimum numbers on social media). Media will be notified in advance if credentials will be provided. For more information, including coordination of pre-festival interviews or request images, please contact Guild Publicist Dianna Stampfler at media@michiganbrewersguild.org.

Media Credentials Request Form - 2019 Winter Beer Festival