Cheers! 24 Great Beer Festivals & Events in Philly in 2022

The Danube Swabian Association hosts a good ol’ fashion German beer festival, with specialty and craft beers also in the lineup. Taste to your heart’s content, check out the local homebrewers’ demonstration and groove to live music.

Bock beers are the name of the game at this popular, German-inspired event that celebrates Sly Fox’s Instigator Doppelbock, Rye-zenbock and Maibock. The fun includes live German oompah music and the ever-popular goat races that delight all that attend. Heads up: Tickets are limited this year, so act fast.

South Street is known for a great many things — and we’d argue this festival is one of them. Thousands of revelers take part in alfresco family fun, spanning Headhouse Square and along South Street during the aptly named South Street Spring Festival. The event always includes a giant Maypole, a few dozen concerts, eating contests, a kids’ zone, nearly 200 vendors and — here’s where the beer comes in — Maifest, Brauhaus Schmitz’s German-beer-and-dancing extravaganza.

The wooded area along the Delaware River where George Washington led Revolutionary War troops to battle is now a park. A park that holds a beer festival, that is. Over 100 beers from local, regional and nationally renowned breweries — like Ship Bottom, Evil Genius and Flying Fish — are available to sample. Food options include pizza, donuts and barbecue.

The party’s in the streets of Bella Vista during Hawthornes Beer Cafe’s 12th annual May extravaganza, where attendees can taste dozens of IPAs from Hawthornes, cocktails from Sonny’s Cocktail Joint, wine and bubbles from Wine Dive, and margaritas from Tio Flores — over 75 total selections from which to choose. The event also features live music, street food and kid-friendly fun.

Take me out to the ballgame. Take me out with the beer-drinking crowd. If these slightly revised lyrics are music to your ears, you’ll want to hit up the Philadelphia All-Star Craft Beer, Wine, and Cocktail Music Festival. The event features more than 200 craft beer, wine and cocktail options for a tasting event on multiple levels of Citizens Bank Park, home to the Philadelphia Phillies. Choose from one of two sessions — 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. (start at noon if you’re VIP) or 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. (start at 6 p.m. for VIPs) — for boozing in the ballpark. Also part of the day’s lineup: live music, lawn games, a batting-cage simulator, a rock-climbing wall, and because it’s Philly, a pretzel-necklace-making station.

Tucked in between 2nd and 3rd Streets, North American Street in Kensington is rife with activity (see: the new Clay Studio facility), including the Made on American Street music and beer festival. Pours are supplied by nearby breweries and cideries like Human Robot, Meyers, Original 13 Ciderworks, Urban Village, Punch Buggy and more. Raise your tiny little tasting glass to the stage to show your support for local bands.

You’re used to going to Ardmore Music Hall for a show — now go for a beer fest. Schauffele Plaza, across from the venue, hosts dozens of craft brewers doling out more than 50 varieties of their amber-hued beverages. Bonus: local food vendors and live music.

Everything’s more fun after dark. The seasonal NoLibs night markets, held during the spring and fall, close down the busy 2nd Street corridor for the night, replacing bustling traffic with food trucks, vendors, sidewalk cafes, lawn games, street performers and family fun. As for the beer, Urban Village has you covered.

(One of) Philly’s (many) claims to fame? Having the nation’s oldest and largest beer week. For 10 days, bars and restaurants across the city host tastings, lectures, beer-pairing dinners and more during Philly Beer Week. Stay tuned for more info on this year’s happenings.

Craft beer and community are the names of the game at the Still Waters Brewfest, which supports The Skippack Historical Society while showcasing local breweries’ sudsy creations. Those local breweries would be von C Brewing Company, Wrong Crowd Beer Company and Levante Brewing Company, among others. Also on tap (well, not literally): nachos, barbecue, Italian fare and vegan sweets.

There are few things quite as hardcore as heavy metal and beer, but Decibel magazine’s annual festival promises all of the above. Over the course of two days, hear sets from Cannibal Corpse, Candlemass, Nuclear Assault, The Red Chord and more while drinking brews from Victory Brewing Company, Broken Goblet Brewing, Wake Brewing and others.

Too cool for dry land, the New Jersey Battleship Beer Festival takes place on the deck of the Battleship New Jersey across the Delaware River from Philly in Camden. Taking a hint from the name of the vessel, the only beers served will be those brewed in the Garden State.

Let William Penn’s 43-acre colonial estate be your drinking grounds during Brews and Bites. Get colonial with it over craft beer from breweries on the Bucks County Ales Trail, and check out 17th-century brewing demonstrations, live music and food trucks.

Cheers to Lansdale! A wide array of brewers post up in Montgomery County to celebrate the first official week of the season, serving beers in the summer sunshine. Keep an eye on the fest’s Facebook page for more on who’s pouring.

Drink like royalty at this alfresco festival at Fonthill Castle in the Bucks County countryside. Subjects — er, guests — enjoy samples from local, regional and national brewers, as well as light fare for pairing, and each guest can take home a commemorative beer-tasting glass. Last year’s breweries included Vault Brewing, Boulevard Brewing Company and Great Barn Brewery.

Celebrating a major milestone, Cannstatter Volksfest-Verein’s Labor Day Volksfest is back for its 150th year of German beer, food and music. That’s 150 years of steins and schnitzel. Since one day is never enough, this fest is spread over three days and is packed with beer, German fare, live music, singing and dancing, and kids activities.

Skip town and head to Newtown, where more of the best breweries from near and far dole out dainty servings of their best beers. Last year’s lineup included Scotland’s Belhaven Brewery, Cleveland’s Great Lakes Brewing Co. and West Chester’s Levante Brewing Co. Bands and food vendors round out the day.

Guests should be ready to throw some discs as they throw some back during the Sly Fox Can Jam Music Festival. In addition to beer, spirits and cocktails, the fall fete includes an epic KanJam tournament (the largest in the world!) and a packed lineup of bands playing live throughout the day.

The Mushroom Capital of the World also knows how to throw a beer party or two. The festivities at Kennett Brewfest include over 80 breweries, live music, food trucks and vendors.

October 6 & 8, 2022

This hoppening event is too big for just one day of celebration. The festivities start with a tasting-and-pairing happy hour on Thursday, October 6 and continue on Saturday, October 8 with a four-hour session of fun, games, music, food and unlimited pours.

Bringing the Oktoberfest vibe to Ridge Avenue, Roxtoberfest is a charming combination of German and craft beers, food trucks, German folk dancing and kids activities. Plus, live music and shopping too.

Adding a little something special to the beer-fest experience, the Yardley Beer & Wine Fest also features that nice fermented grape juice (plus seltzer and cider too). The day includes all the beer-festival staples: sampling glasses, live music, food trucks. It’s all you could ever need.

At this annual event at Sly Fox Brewery, guests enjoy an entirely different kind of pairing: beer and cyclocross. The adventurous bike race traverses a variety of terrains and obstacles, and beer is available all around the race track for spectators to enjoy.