More than 100 brewers from around the world will be pouring at the San Antonio Beer Festival. Credit: Jaime Monzon

Texas’ largest single-day beer festival is back with a bang. Not to mention a piledriver, a powerbomb and a headlock or two.

In addition to tastings from more than 100 breweries from around the globe, this year’s San Antonio Beer Festival will feature a lucha libre stage with 14 colorful and acrobatic wrestlers. Food, live music, exclusive keg-tapping experiences and other activities will round out the full day of fun.

Presented by grocery giant H-E-B, the San Antonio Beer Festival will take place Saturday, Oct. 19, at downtown’s Crockett Park. The gathering, founded in 2005, offers visitors a chance to sample from more than 300 premium and craft beers, ales, ciders, seltzers, hop waters and non-alcoholic beverages.

The 21-and-up festival benefits the San Antonio Food Bank.

“Over the past 19 years, this festival has grown to be the largest beer fest in Texas, largely because of our local partners, team and our partnership with the San Antonio Food Bank,” said Cassandra Wagner, marketing director of Chava Communications, the Current’s parent company and the festival’s organizer.

“We’re excited about the changes this year, like the lucha libre stage, so many new brews and varietals, even non-alcoholic beers. It’s truly a fest that everyone can enjoy, and we look forward to the 20th year next year!”

In addition to unique cask-conditioned ales, one-of-a-kind collaborations and an innovative selection of craft-brewed creations, this year’s San Antonio Beer Festival will feature food trucks, food booths and an array of local vendors. Attendees are free to bring lawn chairs or blankets and stake out comfortable spots to enjoy the festivities and fall weather.

Attendees at this year’s fest will be able to sample more than 300 beers, ales and beverages. Credit: Jaime Monzon

For the first time, the San Antonio Beer Festival will include a stage featuring lucha libre, the Mexico-originated form of professional wrestling known for its vibrant masks, outsized personalities and high-flying acrobatic maneuvers. Bouts will take place on a dedicated stage from 2-4:30 p.m., and wrestlers will stick around to meet the crowd and sign autographs.

Also new this year is an H-E-B-sponsored keg-tapping experience. Attendees will get the opportunity to enjoy first tastes from freshly tapped kegs of hard-to-find specialty beers and ales. The tappings will take place at noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Limited VIP tickets, general admission-plus tickets that include early entry, and regular general admission tickets are now available. VIP doors open at noon with general admission doors opening at 2 p.m. Admission will continue until 6:30 p.m.

In addition, VIP ticketholders will receive a goodie bag including a T-shirt and a tumbler, and they’ll have access to a Real Ale VIP area. The VIP zone will feature specialty beers from Blanco-based Real Ale along with catered food from Lucy Cooper’s Texas Ice House.

Tickets and more information are available at sanantoniobeerfestival.com.

$45-$110, noon (VIP) and 2 p.m. (general admission) Saturday, Oct. 19, Crockett Park, 1300 N. Main Ave., sanantoniobeerfestival.com.

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This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 15, 2024.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...