Billing itself as “a new kind of brew fest,” the Bend Brews and Beyond is the Bend Brewfest 2.0. It’s at a new location in Drake Park which means you can literally float up to it. There’s also a larger focus on cider and non-alcoholic drinks. In fact, there will be more than a dozen non-alcoholic drink makers along with hop water, kombucha and cold brew. And, of course, plenty of Oregon-made beer and cider. Grand Craft Bend and Silver Moon Brewing, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, are sponsoring the event.
The original Bend Brewfest launched in 2003. It’s been canceled four out of the past five years. Brian Yaeger with Grand Craft Bend says, “Just as it pains me when we lose a brewery, it’s sad when we lose a beer fest like…Bend Brewfest, which became the state’s largest brew fest in recent years,” Yaeger told the Source Weekly. “I don’t know if meditate is the right word, but after mulling over both attendee and vendor feedback, I am over the moon to be staging this evolved form of the brew fest that is designed to be a win-win by making Bend Brews & Beyond the best — if not the biggest — version of a celebration of local and Oregon-wide food and beverage, except it’s really beverage and food.”
Yaeger says every locally owned brewery and cidery in Central Oregon is participating. Attendance will be capped at 5,000 to ensure shorter lines. There are also reduced ticket prices for those not drinking alcohol.
Yaeger has strong ties to the local beer scene. He’s written books on the subject, including “Oregon Breweries” 10 years ago. “It isn’t just that this is a product I love and an industry I enjoy and support, it’s that I feel deeply connected to the community. There were nearly 200 Oregon breweries at that time and we’re closer to 300 today. But despite the growth, there are constant challenges and the current trend toward people ditching beer altogether or folding in more beverages beyond beer is one of those challenges,” he wrote in an email.
In addition to music and food trucks, Yaeger says there will be silly fun activities including a Brewers Decathlon where teams of brewers compete for a Bend Brews & Beyond Mashlete Cup, plus the Drinking Pants Pageant where people wearing the funkiest party pants have a chance to win drink tokens.
“I really do not want anyone to lose sight of what makes our local brewing and beverage-making industry so great as well as what makes communal gatherings super fun,” Yaeger says.
Participants include Bend’s newest and smallest brewery, Terranaut, plus Van Henion and Funky Fauna, as well as a mead maker from Sisters and sparkling honey wine from Lazy Z Ranch. Backporch Coffee Roasters will pour new brands of cold brew. The festival benefits the Oregon Brewers Guild, a nonprofit promoting Oregon Craft Beer since 1992.
This article appears in Source Weekly May 15, 2025.
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