Oregon Brewers Festival

Founder of Portland Brewing Co, Art Larrance, launched the Oregon Brewers Festival in July 1988, after visiting Oktoberfest in Munich and wanting to create a similar atmosphere and experience. Live music was introduced in 2001. In 2005, OBF expanded from a three-day schedule (Friday to Sunday) to four, adding Thursday. The 2011 Oregon Brewers Festival featured 85 craft beers from 14 states; it attracted 80,000 people over four days. Nearly 2,000 volunteers worked at the festival, selling tokens and pouring beer, among other tasks. After two years with tasting glasses made of glass, for 2015, OBF switched to a polycarbonate tasting glass; the change was in response to safety concerns raised by the Portland Police. In 2020 and 2021, the festival went on hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; although it resumed in 2022, it was cancelled in 2023. ==Related events==

In recent years OBF has anchored a month of beer-related festivals in Portland, including the North American Organic Brewers Festival, the Portland International Beerfest, and the Great American Distillers Festival. ==See also==