As some beer-loving listeners may have already caught wind of, there will be no KLCC Brewfest in 2024.
Several factors are behind the decision.
For more than two decades, KLCC’s biggest fundraising event for local journalism has been an annual microbrew festival. Hundreds of regional beers, ciders, and ales were available on tap, and live music was provided as well.
The event has relied on hundreds of volunteers, as well as generous donations from breweries.
Jim Rondeau, KLCC’s general manager, says between rising costs and recent market trends hitting the beer industry, the revenue flow was not improving.
“To make Brewfest successful this year we would’ve had to either raise prices significantly, or scale down the event,” said Rondeau.
“So Number One increases’ the barrier of entry for a lot of the people we’d love to be able to participate.
“And Number Two, if you scale down the event, people are disappointed by what they attend. We didn’t want either one of those things to be true.”
Rondeau says it’s hard disappointing fans of the KLCC Brewfest, but he is hopeful the event can come back. What exact form, venue, or timeline that’ll take is yet to be determined.
Beer manufacturers and vendors alike have seen consumers shift to non-alcoholic beers recently, or seltzers and other beverages. Ripple effects from the pandemic economy, supply chain disruptions, inflation, and other factors have also challenged the brewing industry, both here and across the globe.
