PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Organizers of the annual Oregon Brewers Festival announced that the event has been canceled for summer 2023.
The festival was closed for public health concerns in both 2020 and 2021. In 2022, it returned to Tom McCall Waterfront Park from Thursday, July 28 to Saturday, July 30.
Art Larrance, Teddy Peetz, Alissa Larrance and other OBF staff members cited a few reasons for the cancellation in a statement released on Friday afternoon.
“After three decades of producing OBF, we’ve developed a solid understanding of what it takes to give our attendees a great festival,” they said. “And it’s clear when those factors aren’t coming together for a successful event. Higher costs, lower attendance, and extreme weather are just a few of the challenges that we’ve been discussing — but that’s far from an exhaustive list.”
However, the statement wasn’t all bad. According to OBF staff, finding “great beer” was the 33 years that the event was held was never an obstacle. They also reflected on having 80,000 attendees one summer, and on being recognized as one of the top 10 beer festivals across the world.
OBF didn’t confirm whether there would be an event during summer 2024. Staff said that the festival is still recovering from the effects of the pandemic, like much of the hospitality industry.
Event organizers report that they will consider other avenues for supporting Oregon’s many breweries and cideries, and they encourage beer-lovers to do the same.
“We want to express our gratitude to the brewers, cider makers, volunteers, staff members and vendors who have been vital to OBF over the years; to our friends at Portland Parks & Recreation, who have been essential to the fest’s ongoing success at Waterfront Park; and to our attendees—from the ones who never missed a year to those who braved the heatwave in 2022 to join us for the first time—we can’t wait to see you again,” they said.