Change on tap: Festival of Beer moving downtown this year

The warm weather is approaching — which means the Festival of Beer is around the corner.

This year's event, taking place on May 4, is expanding and will be moving downtown to Square One. It was held at the Bushplane last year.

The new location — in front of Loplops Lounge, between Broers Jansen and Mane Street Cafe — allows the festival to grow and support the downtown community, a news release says.

Patios at local businesses will be set up along the street and patrons can walk freely from the one licensed area to another with their beverages and food and enjoy all the activities, which will include local vendors, bands and this year, the return of Buskers to Queen Street.

Everyone is welcome to be part of the event, free of charge. However, to be part of the SSM Festival of Beer, people must purchase a ticket and present a festival glass/bracelet to the breweries.

“We are really looking forward to bringing this event to a larger stage,” says Steve Alexander (Event Organizer) in a news release issued today. “Both the business community and the patrons of the festival expressed the need for more room, so expanding and coming back to Queen Street is the perfect fit,” says Alexander, who organized Second Stage and The Emergency Festival and collaborated on the Queen Street Pop Up Patios and SSM Buskerfest.

For more information, see the full release below. 

The stars have aligned, and the universe has spoken.

You won’t need The Force to figure out where all the action is coming from on Saturday May 4, 2024.

It's a HOP, skip and a jump to our new location.

Much like the breweries it attracts, the SSM Festival of Beer is expanding, and this year's event will be moving Downtown to Square One. In front of Loplops Lounge, between Broers Jansen and Mane Street Cafe, this move allows the festival to grow and be part of and support the downtown community.

Patios at local businesses will be set up along the street and patrons can walk freely from the one licensed area to another with their beverages and food and enjoy all the activities which includes local vendors, bands and this year, the return of Buskers to Queen Street. Everyone is welcome to be part of the event, free of charge, BUT to be part of the SSM Festival of Beer one must purchase a ticket and present a festival glass/bracelet to the breweries.

“We are really looking forward to bringing this event to a larger stage,” says Steve Alexander (Event Organizer). “Both the business community and the patrons of the festival expressed the need for more room, so expanding and coming back to Queen Street is the perfect fit,” says Alexander, who organized Second Stage and The Emergency Festival and collaborated on the Queen Street Pop Up Patios and SSM Buskerfest.

The location isn’t the only “new” feature to this year's festival; a limited number of “Fast Track” bracelets are available this year as well. Fast Track bracelet holders can avoid the line ups and enjoy samples of any beer from the festival inside and on the patio of the Loplop Bottle Shop.

The festival is also launching the Golden Cup. These coveted cups are given to all King Can, Tall Boy and Standard sponsors as well as all the breweries attending the event this year. The Golden Cup is entry to the event and includes all drink samples for the day. The only way to get one is to WIN one, so follow all the sponsors and breweries on their social media accounts.

Tickets are available now at www.loplops.com and include the souvenir SSM Festival of Beer sample glass. Tokens can be purchased in advance along with your ticket and will be available with your glass upon arrival.

Additional sample tickets can be purchased on site as well.

Tickets for sale online: www.loplops.com

Contact Stephen Alexander: [email protected]