The Great Taste Of The Midwest Beer Festival Canceled Due To COVID-19

The annual Great Taste of the Midwest craft beer festival has been canceled over concerns about COVID-19.

“It is difficult to envision that we could safely gather in a group of 10,000 people in August,” Great Taste of the Midwest chair Jason Walters said in an email. “The current health crisis compels us to make the tough decision to suspend planning efforts.”

The festival had already switched from in-person ticket sales to a mail-in lottery over virus concerns. In past years, people would stand in line for hours to snag one of the festival’s coveted tickets.

The 2020 event, which had been scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 8, would have been the 34th annual event. It’s organized by the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild to promote brewers and their beers. Past events have seen more than 190 breweries serving up more than 1,400 beers in Madison’s Olin Park.

“We’re all really disappointed to cancel such a long-running Madison event this year but we know it’s the right thing to do,” Walters said. “We’ll look forward to celebrating together next year.”