Asheville Beer Festivals
Description
Asheville has one of the densest brewery scenes in the country, and its beer festival calendar works the same way: a few big dates, plenty of small ones, and a fair amount of change from year to year. This page lists the Asheville beer festivals we could confirm for 2026 with the organizer or the tourism board, and is upfront about the ones we could not.
AVL Beer Week (May)
Asheville Beer Week is the long one: about two weeks each May of tastings, beer dinners, special releases, talks and tours at breweries and restaurants across the city, organized by volunteers from the local beer industry together with the Asheville Brewers Alliance. It is not a single-ticket festival. Each event is run and ticketed by the venue hosting it, so check the individual listings.
Asheville Oktoberfest (Saturday, October 3, 2026)
Asheville Oktoberfest is the downtown street party, run by the Asheville Downtown Association on Coxe Avenue in the South Slope brewery district, with 20-plus local breweries, cideries and distilleries pouring. Hours, Prost Pass prices and tips are on its own page.
Burnpile (Saturday, October 3, 2026)
Burnpile is Burial Beer Co.’s annual beer and music festival at its Forestry Camp site in south Asheville. For 2026 Burial lists pours from 60-plus breweries from around the country and a full-day concert headlined by Lucero. There are three ticket levels: Concert Only ($50), Tasting Experience ($85) and VIP ($155). VIP pours start at noon and general entry is at 1 p.m. It is 21 and over at every ticket level.
There is no parking on site. Burial runs a free shuttle from downtown and also points people to the S1 city bus, ride-share or a designated driver. It falls on the same Saturday as Asheville Oktoberfest, so pick one or plan the afternoon carefully.
Festivals to check before you plan around them
Older guides to Asheville still list the festivals below. We could not find a confirmed 2026 or 2027 date from the organizer for any of them, so treat them as unconfirmed until you see one.
Beer City Festival: for years the closing event of Beer Week, held on Roger McGuire Green downtown.
Winter Warmer Beer Festival: a January festival of winter seasonal beers held downtown.
Brewgrass: Asheville’s original craft beer festival, founded in 1996 and later reworked as a music-first event.
Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest in Mills River: listed as on hold.
What is available?
Beer tastings, special releases, beer dinners, brewery tours, live music and food vendors. It varies by festival.
Located inside of: Various: street festivals, brewery grounds and taprooms
Special tips for the festival?
Buy tickets from the organizer’s own page, not a reseller. Bring ID, since most tasting events are 21 and over. Leave the car: downtown garages fill on festival Saturdays and Burnpile has no on-site parking at all. If your dates do not line up with a festival, the breweries are open year-round.
More beer in Asheville
Location: Various venues across Asheville, NC
Phone: N/A (contact each organizer)
Opening Hours: Varies by festival
Dates: AVL Beer Week: May. Asheville Oktoberfest: October 3, 2026. Burnpile: October 3, 2026.
Parking: Downtown garages and street parking; free shuttle, city bus or ride-share for Burnpile
Location of the Festival: Coxe Avenue in the South Slope (Oktoberfest); Burial Forestry Camp, 10 Shady Oak Dr (Burnpile); breweries citywide (Beer Week)
