These days, it’s become common practice for craft beer drinkers to travel down to their local brewery, growler in hand, and chat with brewers while sipping the latest releases. Imagine being able to do that in one place, 45 times over.

That’s exactly the experience the Baltimore Craft Beer Festival, now in its second year at Canton Waterfront Park on October 22, will give its thirsty guests. The festival will boast an almost inconceivable number of Maryland-only microbreweries.

“It has been great to see this incredible amount of growth,” says Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Brewer’s Association of Maryland and founder of Grow & Fortify. “This event is bringing people exclusive access to breweries and beer that they would not see elsewhere. Maybe the breweries are really small and niche, or maybe they’re not opening for three months. You may have never tried this product before and that’s what these events have become—they’re explorations.”

At this festival, guests can explore more than 45 Maryland craft breweries including heavy hitters like Flying Dog, Heavy Seas, and Union, as well as smaller outfits like Falling Branch in Harford County, Steinhardt Brewing outside of Frederick, or Mad Science Brewing near Sugarloaf Mountain.

Besides more brewery options, another big difference from last year is that guests will now be able to fill growlers on-site, something that was requested last year.

“At the time, we didn’t have the licensing or permitting to allow us to do that,” explains Grow & Fortify events manager Rebecca Dulka. “But since then, Kevin and I helped create a new law to sell beer on-site.”

The festival will also feature plenty of local food trucks including Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, The Green Bowl, Greek on the Street, Smoking Swine, and BricknFire Pizza Company. There will be activities and games from Charm City Trivia, as well as a tent of homebrew creations that festival attendees can sample and vote on for an add-on price to admission.

Proceeds from the festival will go towards Strong City Baltimore, a nonprofit that works to reinforce safe streets, desirable housing stock, quality public schools, a robust work force, and a sense of civic engagement in city neighborhoods.

“We are trying to encompass as many local organizations and vendor as possible,” Dulka says. “This event should be something the city can call home for years to come.”

Organizers also take pride in the fact that, throughout the day, people pouring your beers won’t just be volunteers or hired help. Everyone working at a beer tent will be owners, brewers, or staffers of the breweries represented.

“Farmers’ markets and craft alcohol has really taken off because people like the idea of meeting the maker,” Atticks said. “Consumers are interested in the provenance of a product—who made it, where did it come from. This type of event allows you to hear those stories first-hand.”