Raleigh’s biggest beer festival is back. Everything you need to know about Brewgaloo.
The brews are back in town.
Beer festivals have mostly taken a two-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic. But this weekend North Carolina’s biggest beer festival will return to downtown Raleigh.
The two-day beer festival Brewgaloo will be held Friday and Saturday. Situated along Fayetteville Street, Brewgaloo draws more than 100 North Carolina breweries and cideries to Raleigh, pouring pints and samples.
This will be the first full scale Brewgaloo in two years.
“It feels like we’re coming full circle,” said Jennifer Martin, executive director of Shop Local Raleigh, Brewgaloo’s organizer. “It’ll be great to see a vibrant bustling downtown filled with people. We feel like people will see what we’ve been missing.”
What’s on tap for Brewgaloo
There are two days and two ways to Brewgaloo.
Friday
There’s the Friday Night Block Party. Like in past years, the Friday event is kind of a smaller affair, with a limited number of tickets, meant to draw attendees looking for less crowds, but more beer.
This night is more like typical beer festivals, where visitors get unlimited tastings with the price of admission, poured in a 3 ounce sampling glass. Tickets to the Friday event are $45 if purchased early, or $55 onsite, with beers poured, live music performed and food trucks serving from 6 to 10 p.m.
It’s actually a two-block festival this year, extending along Fayetteville Street from City Plaza to Martin Street.
“We went bigger Friday night,” said Martin. “It’s a smaller crowd size and will mean more room to roam around and hang out and walk around for those still cautious about going out.”
Saturday
Brewgaloo’s main event is Saturday from 1 to 9 p.m. In pre-COVID years, it drew 40,000 people, Martin said.
The Saturday event is free to attend and no tickets are required. But you’ll need drink tickets for beer, sold in bundles of 25 for $30 before the festival, $40 onsite. Five tickets buys a full pint of beer and two tickets gets a 3 ounce pour.
“You can come and listen to live music and order food from a food truck,” Martin said. “You don’t have to buy a ticket to come.”
At more than 100 breweries and more than 50 food trucks, Brewgaloo has grown into one of Raleigh’s biggest festivals. Martin said some breweries will run through eight to 20 kegs, all pouring a taste of North Carolina.
“All the breweries are locally owned and for some this will be their largest festival they attend all year,” Martin said.
The breweries
Brewgaloo stands out among the major Triangle beer festivals in drawing only breweries from North Carolina. That means the hometown spots like Steel String, Bond Brothers and Fortnight, plus a taste of Charlotte’s beer scene, including NoDa Brewing, Birdsong and Olde Mecklenburg, Eastern North Carolina’s Spaceway Brewing and Casita and Winston-Salem’s Wise Man and Foothills.
On the cider and seltzer side, look for James Creek Cider House, Oak City Bubbly, Red Clay Ciderworks and a dozen others.
For the full list, visit shoplocalraleigh.org/brewgaloo
Pandemic pivots
In 2020, when the pandemic made traditional beer festivals impossible, Brewgaloo canceled its usual events and switched to a drive thru festival, where beer lovers would pick up sample packs to take home, instead of thrown back on-site. There were five virtual Brewgaloos in all, four in Raleigh and one in Durham.
That was a stop-gap for uncertain times. When Brewgaloo moved to an in-person festival last September, it drew 25,000 people — a large event, but one that still paled in comparison to past events.
Martin said last year’s festival offered some useful practice ahead of the 2022 Brewgaloo, a moment she hopes starts a revival for downtown Raleigh.
“Now we’re kept the extra handwashing station and have the larger Friday night event,” Martin said. “It makes for a better experience for everyone. Our whole mission is supporting local businesses. This is huge for them. ... People didn’t stop drinking and didn’t stop eating, but did stop shopping (in person).”
