It may not have the fame of Munich’s adrenalized Octoberfest but Guadalajara’s annual Beer Festival (Festival de Cerveza) is beginning to make a name for itself, albeit locally.
Scheduled Friday, October 14 through Sunday, October 16, the festival held in one corner of Zapopan’s Parque Metropolitano will primarily showcase Mexico’s growing number of microbreweries, as well as selected imported beers.
There will be at least 100 different brews on sale from at least 30 breweries (more than last year), as well as beer tastings, conferences, live entertainment, food stalls and a special kids’ area with games and activities. Awards will be given to the best brews.
A congress called “Cultura en un vaso” (Culture in a glass), featuring three panel discussions with experts talking on subjects such as successful microbrewery models and beer types and styles, takes place on Saturday afternoon.
Helping to strengthen the production link between barley and beer producers and developing a more open beer culture in the region are some the long-term aims of the event.
Notable absentees at previous festivals have been Mexico’s goliath brewery, Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma, which controls about half of the nation’s beer market. Modelo was present at last year’s festival.
Mexico’s smaller breweries are hopeful that the country’s antitrust agency will soon act to outlaw the exclusive contracts the two giants sign with thousands of small retailers nationwide.
Organizers are confident more than 30,000 people will visit the festival over the three days.
The festival opens on Friday, October 14 at 2 p.m. and noon on the Saturday and Sunday. Doors close at midnight on Friday and Saturday and at 6 p.m. on Sunday. Expect louder music in the latter part of the evening.
Special tents will be set up for the beer tastings and for the congress, which is being sponsored by the Camara Nacional de la Industria de la Cerveza y de la Malta (the National Beer and Malt Industry Chamber).
The cost to enter the festival is 60 pesos. In previous years 20 pesos of the entry fee could be used to buy beer. Children under 12 enter free. The event is located between Sebastian Bach and Tchaikowski next to Parque Metropolitano and just behind Plaza Galerias.