Excitement bubbling for annual beer festival

A popular annual festival will return to Comstock Park’s LMCU Ballpark on Saturday, Feb. 24.

The yearly Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival will feature more than 670 beer varieties, 80 distinct styles of beer, with over 121 breweries participating . The festival began in 2006 in Old Town neighborhood of Lansing with just 40 breweries in attendance and moved to the Whitecaps’ stadium in 2008 to accommodate demand.

Musical entertainment for this year’s Winter Beer Festival includes Steve Leaf (1:30-3pm) and Roosevelt Diggs (4-5:30pm). The singing of the Michigan Great Beer State Fight Song, Welcome Toast and Tapping of the Firkin will take place between sets. Plus, the Great Lakes Brass band will be roaming inside the festival site. A variety of food is also available for purchase, provided by the Whitecaps concessions. Fire pits will be set up around the festival site. Attendees must be 21 to enter, with a valid ID required.

Organizers warn that the Michigan Winter Beer Festival will be held rain or shine. Planning ahead and dressing for the weather is encouraged as no refunds will be issued in the event of snow storms or other inclement weather.

The event takes place from 1 – 6 p.m. Tickets for this year’s event are $60 each in advance at MiBeer.com ($70 the day of the event) and include 15 three-ounce sample tokens. Enthusiast-level members of the Michigan Brewers Guild are admitted one hour early. The cost of membership is $35, and allows for early admission to every MBG festival of the 2024 season, including:

Michigan Summer Beer Festival
Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27
Riverside Park in Ypsilanti

U.P. Fall Beer Festival
Saturday, Sept. 7
Mattson Lower Harbor Park in Marquette

Detroit Fall Beer Festival
Saturday, Oct. 19
Eastern Market in Detroit

For more information visit MiBeer.com/events .