The Michigan Brewers Guild’s popular Winter Beer Festival will once again take place at LMCU Ballpark (home of the West Michigan Whitecaps) in Comstock Park on Saturday, February 25 (1-6pm). Tickets are $60 each in advance at MiBeer.com ($70 the day of) and include 15 three-ounce sample tokens. This year’s event features 124 breweries that collectively offer more than 720 beers (and nearly 90 distinct styles).
Enthusiast Members of the Guild are admitted one hour early and those interested in becoming a member can join for $35. In addition to early admission for every MBG festival, Enthusiast Members are given an opportunity to purchase tickets two days ahead of the general public.
Musical entertainment for this year’s Winter Beer Festival includes Steve Leaf & Co. and Nathan Walton and The Remedy, along with the Great Lakes Brass roaming the festival site prior to the annual singing of the Michigan Great Beer State Fight Song, Tapping of the Firkin and Welcome Toast. A variety of food is available for purchase, provided by the Whitecaps concessions team.
As with all MBG festivals, this is an outside event and attendees are encouraged to dress for the weather. Fire pits will be set up around the festival site. The event will be held snow, rain or shine, and refunds will not be issued. Attendees must be 21 to enter, with a valid ID required.
The first Michigan Winter Beer Festival was held on February 25, 2006 on Tuner Street at Grand River in Old Town Lansing with just 40 breweries participating. As attendance (breweries and festivalgoers) grew, the Guild soon moved west and since 2008 has been held at the ballpark just north of downtown.
The MBG 2023 festival schedule includes:
- Spring Beer Festival – Saturday, May 13 at Turtle Creek Stadium in Traverse City
Tickets on sale at 10am on Thursday, February 9 - www.mibeer.com/Events/spring-beer-festival
- Summer Beer Festival – Friday, July 21 & Saturday, July 22 at Riverside Park in Ypsilanti
General admission tickets go on sale on Thursday, May 4 at 10am
- U.P. Fall Beer Festival – Saturday, September 9 at Mattson Lower Harbor Park in Marquette
General admission tickets go on sale on Thursday, June 29 at 10am
- Detroit Fall Beer Festival – Saturday, October 28 at Eastern Market in Detroit
General admission tickets go on sale on Thursday, August 3 at 10am
For more on each festival, visit MiBeer.com/events.
Formed in 1997, the Michigan Brewers Guild represents nearly 300 member breweries. The Guild is a passionate beer community that believes in quality artisanship, bold character, fun, responsibility and pushing the boundaries. The mission of the Guild is to promote and protect the Michigan beer industry with an overarching goal to help locally brewed beer attain 20% of all beer sales in the state by 2025.
Michigan’s brewing industry contributes more than 21,000 full-time jobs and $872 million in labor income, with a total economic impact of over $2.5 billion. In terms of overall number of breweries, microbreweries and brewpubs, Michigan ranks #6 in the nation—supporting its title as “The Great Beer State.”