The Unipiper – the Rose City’s unicycle-riding, bagpipe-playing embodiment of the “Keep Portland Weird” ethos – come this summer will add another feather to his Darth Vader cap: grand marshal of the 2019 Oregon Brewers Festival.

At times known as Portlander Brian Kidd, the Unipiper will lead the midday parade to open the 32nd annual festival on Wednesday, July 24. The two-mile procession, the longest to date for the spirited collection of costumed beer enthusiasts and brewery workers, will travel from Ecliptic Brewing in North Portland across the Broadway Bridge to Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

The festival undergoes a couple of changes for 2019. Previously a five-day festival, last year it switched to a four-day run from Thursday through Sunday. This year, it shifts forward a day, running from Wednesday through Saturday, July 24-27, with no Sunday option.

Festival organizers say the Unipiper has been a supporter of the festival for years, playing outside the gates and handing out tokens on his own dime as well as participating in the parade.

He is also a homebrewer, and he embodies the spirit of the festival, they said. He’s collaborated with breweries and had beers named after him, including The Unipiper Hazy IPA by Portland Brewing Co., the UnipIPA and the Uniporter by Rogue Ales.

This year the festival becomes a true Oregon event and will pour only products from in-state. The festival, one of the West Coast’s most-popular and longest-running, will feature 101 products from 93 breweries – from nanobreweries to the state’s largest -- and eight cider houses in 34 Oregon cities, with 85 of the offerings making their debut.

Art Larrance, the festival’s director and founder, said only six Oregon breweries were operating in 1988, the first year of the gathering, so organizers invited craft breweries from around the country in an attempt to spread craft beer’s popularity.

"Today, there are close to 300 breweries in our own state,” Larrance said, “and we felt it was time to really showcase all the regions that make Oregon one of the most successful craft beer hubs in the world.”

The Oregon Brewers Festival this year switches days, running from Wednesday through Saturday, but not on Sunday.

Any questions?

When is the festival? Wednesday, July 24, through Saturday, July 27; gates open 11:30 a.m., taps open noon-9 p.m.

Where is it?

Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

What else is at the festival?

Meet the Brewer tent, Brewer dunk tank, five food booths, and beer-related vendors, games and homebrewing demonstrations.

How much will it set me back?

Entry is free, but a $20 tasting package of a souvenir mug and 10 tokens is required to drink beer or cider. Patrons pay four tokens for a full mug of beer or cider, or one token for a taste. Additional tokens may be purchased for $1 apiece. Mugs and tokens are sold on-site and select locations two weeks before the festival. The festival is cash-only, with ATMs provided.

Is it family and pet friendly?

The festival allows minors all hours of the event when accompanied by a parent; animals are not allowed, unless they apply under the American Disability Act.

What are my transportation options?

The Oregon Brewers Festival encourages patrons to drink responsibly and use a designated driver or transit option. Tri-Met buses and the MAX Light Rail have stops nearby; Uber and Lyft both serve the area; and bike riders can park their ride for free in the Hopworks Urban Brewery secure bike corral.

What don’t I know about the festival?

The festival last year had an estimated $20 million impact on the local community. Also, this year’s festival beneficiary is UCP Oregon, a nonprofit serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities including Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, Down Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, ADD, and others.

Grand marshals John DeBenedetti and Mike Moscarelli of F.H. Steinbart Co., a local homebrewing supplies institution, ride at the head of the opening parade for the 2017 Oregon Brewers Festival.

What breweries are pouring at the festival?

13 Virtues Brewing

Allegory Brewing

Ancestry Brewing

Arch Rock Brewing

Ascendant Beer

Baerlic Brewing Bevel Craft Brewing

Binary Brewing

Boneyard Beer

Breakside Brewery

Buoy Beer

Caldera Brewing

Cascade Brewing

Cascade Lakes Brewing

Coalition Brewing

Coin Toss Brewing

ColdFire Brewing

Collaborator Project

Crux Fermentation Project

Deep Space Brewing

Deluxe Brewing

Deschutes Brewery

Double Mountain Brewery

Ecliptic Brewing

Elk Horn Brewery

Evasion Brewing

Fearless Brewing

Ferment Brewing

Fort George Brewery

Freebridge Brewing

Full Sail Brewing

Funhouse Brews

G-MAN Brewery

Gateway Brewing

Gigantic, Gilgamesh Brewing

Golden Valley Brewery

GoodLife Brewing

Great Notion Brewing

Hopworks Urban Brewery

Immersion Brewing

Kells Brewery

Klamath Basin Brewing

Kobold Brewing

Labrewatory

Laurelwood Brewing

Little Beast Brewing

Lompoc Brewing

Lucky Labrador Brewing

MadCow Brewing

Mazama Brewing

McMenamins Breweries

Migration Brewing

Monkless Belgian Ales

Natian Brewery

Ninkasi Brewing

Oakshire Brewing

Old Market Pub & Brewery

Old Town Brewing

Ordnance Brewing

Oregon City Brewing

Pelican Brewing

pFriem Family Brewers

Porter Brewing

Portland Brewing

Public Coast Brewing

Ram Restaurant & Brewery

RiverBend Brewing

Rock Bottom Brewery

Rogue Ales

Rusty Truck Brewing

Santiam Brewing

Sasquatch Brewing

Scout Beer

Silver Moon Brewing

Stickmen Brewing

StormBreaker Brewing

Sunriver Brewing Terminal Gravity Brewing

Three Creeks Brewing

Three Mugs Brewing

Thunder Island Brewing

Upright Brewing

Vanguard Brewing

Vertigo Brewing

Von Ebert Brewing

Weekend Beer

Widmer Brothers Brewing

Wild Ride Brewing

Wolf Tree Brewery

Worthy Brewing

Xicha Brewing

Zoiglhaus Brewing

What cideries are pouring at the festival?

2 Towns Ciderhouse

Apple Outlaw

Cider Riot

Portland Cider

Reverend Nat's Hard Cider

Swift Cider

Wandering Aengus Ciderworks

WildCraft Cider Works

Lisa Morrison, aka the Beer Goddess, raises a pint to open the 2016 Oregon Brewers Festival. The beer writer and co-owner of Belmont Station served as grand marshal.

Who are the previous grand marshals?

Brian Kidd, the Unipiper, joins an illustrious list of previous grand marshals. Here they are since the parade began opening the festival in 2007:

2007: Tom Potter, Portland mayor

2008: Tom Potter, Portland mayor

2009: Sam Adams, Portland mayor

2010: Sam Adams, Portland mayor

2011: Fred Eckhardt, longtime Portland beer writer

2012: Tom Dalldorf, editor/publisher Celebrator Beer News

2013: John Foyston, former Oregonian/OregonLive beer writer

2014: John Maier/Brett Joyce, Rogue Ales brewmaster/owner

2015: Rob and Kurt Widmer, Widmer Brothers Brewing co-founders

2016: Lisa Morrison, aka the Beer Goddess, beer writer and Belmont Station co-owner

2017: John DeBenedetti and Mike Moscarelli of F.H. Steinbart Co., a local homebrewing supplies institution

2018: Brian and Mike McMenamin, McMenamins co-founders

-- Andre Meunier

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