Firkin Fest, the beer festival in Milwaukee's Cathedral Square Park, calls it quits after 10 years

Goodbye, Firkin Fest.

Organizer Curt Foreman said his company Brew Fest Partners won't host Milwaukee Firkin Fest in Cathedral Square Park this year, after a 10-year run.

The one-day beer festival — named for a small wooden vessel or cask that holds beer — drew as many as 2,000 beer lovers to Cathedral Square Park.

"I read the tea leaves," Foreman said. "My gut is telling me the Firkin has run its course. It's a little sad because we've always had such great participation and passion by the brewers for this event."

While there is a chance Firkin Fest would show up in another location, it seems unlikely at this point, Foreman said.

A couple of factors played into Foreman's decision but mainly, it was a change in fest-goer habits.

"People don't want to make commitments to anything until the last minute," said Foreman, who worked with his ticket provider to study participant behavior.

"People are buying tickets last-minute nationwide," Foreman said. "It's turned things upside down. Add to that the fact that Milwaukee is an extremely busy city."

Foreman they're seeing some fatigue over beer festivals in Milwaukee.

That's likely in part thanks to tremendous growth in the number of breweries that have opened since Firkin Fest debuted 10 years ago. Metro Milwaukee now has 47 craft breweries from which to choose.

The first Firkin Fest was held in June but was moved to July the second year so it wouldn't fall on the same date as Wisconsin's Beer Lover's Festival, held annually at Bayshore. After eight years of hosting the festival in July, Firkin Fest moved back to June last year.

Festival dates have been hampered in the past by rain, which discouraged walk-up visitors; heat; and duplicate events like a Milwaukee Brewers home stand.

Brew Fest Partners also used to host the Milwaukee Cider and Nano Beer Fest but discontinued that after 2018.

Foreman said they will continue to host short events like pop-up beer gardens in Racine and in other states, along with the Border War Beer Fest in Kenosha and Great Lakes Brew Fest in Racine.

Foreman said the pop-up beer gardens are the antithesis of beer festivals where people often wait in line to meet the brewer: "They're chill environments."

Contact Kathy at (414) 224-2974 or kathy.flanigan@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @katflanigan.