2025 Lancaster Craft Beerfest is on Saturday, August 23

The Lancaster Craft Beerfest is on Saturday, August 23 2025!

After returning in 2024 for the first time since 2019, the Lancaster Craft Beerfest is once again taking place at Ewell Plaza and Binn’s Park this summer. 

Tickets are on sale now!

“We were thrilled with how the event went last year and felt like we didn’t miss a beat after the four year hiatus,” said Jonathan Yeager, Partner of Decades and co-creator of the Lancaster Craft Beerfest. “We’re thankful for our Sponsors and Partners that help keep this event successful for the Lancaster Community and beyond!”

Guests can choose from a Noon-3pm or 4pm-7pm session. Each session will have live music, breweries, and delicious food vendors. There are also special designated driver tickets available. The event is 21+, nobody under the age of 21 can attend. 

Joycat Events, the organization that created and managed the beerfest previously, is under the Decades Lancaster umbrella since ownership of both businesses are now combined.

“We love the Lancaster Craft Beerfest and we’re excited to be back having fun with all of our attendees and vendors,” said Chris Trendler, Partner of Decades and co-creator of the Lancaster Craft Beerfest. “Our unique urban event showcases the lively vibe of Lancaster City! Come join us!”

Presenting Sponsors of the event are Decades and The Rotary Club of Lancaster Penn Square–the latter benefitting from a portion of ticket sales of the event. 

We are grateful for the The Restaurant Store who is joining once again as an Event Sponsor to help bring this beerfest back for guests!

We are also excited to welcome Discover Lancaster as this year’s Mug Sponsor! Their logo will be featured on the tasting mugs along with the 2025 Lancaster Craft Beerfest logo, creating a fun collectible takeaway from the experience.

Other Community Sponsors to be announced soon. More information regarding the breweries, bands, sponsors, food, and more, will be coming soon! 

Finally, we have four returning Event Partners that help shape the experience for beerfest attendees including Building Character, RockHound Apparel, STRAY Productions, and Signarama.

Guests can check out the current breweries here as more get added in the next few months.

Get tickets here now!

Cheers!

Beerfest Recap: Feels Good To Be Back

The Lancaster Craft Beerfest returned back and better than ever last Saturday, August 24 2024!

“We were so pleased seeing everyone having a great time at Lancaster Craft Beerfest again, it's really great to be back,” said Chris Trendler, Partner of Decades and one of the creators of the Lancaster Craft Beerfest. “Thank you to everyone that attended, our wonderful sponsors and volunteers, and all of our families and friends that helped make this event a success. See you next summer!”

The Lancaster Craft Beerfest is brought to you by Decades, a company formed by three childhood friends who grew up and reside in Lancaster, PA. Formerly Joycat Events, Decades is a local restaurant, bar, retro arcade, and bowling alley in the City of Lancaster.

"What an incredible turnout,” said Jonathan Yeager, Partner of Decades and one of the creators of the Lancaster Craft Beerfest. “After four years, we're so thankful for all the support we received from the Lancaster community, our sponsors, our partners, and attendees—and we cannot wait to bring it back next year! A special thanks and shout-out to our volunteers who are amazing, and we could not pull this event off without them."

The event featured over 30 breweries, delicious food vendors, and great live music—all on a beautiful summer Saturday in downtown Lancaster City.

We’re extremely thankful for all of the guests, volunteers, sponsors, and vendors that made this event happen. It’s because of you that we were able to return once again!

Check out our recap story below and explore some great photos of the event below!

1 - Good Brews, Great Vibes

"This was our first Lancaster Beerfest and we already can't wait for the next one,” said Nick Esposito, attendee of the recent beerfest. “It was so nice to be able to interact with some of our favorite brewers, find new favorites, and see the community doing the same."

Attendees could choose from two different sessions—Noon-3pm or 4pm-7pm, so it could be a party any time of the day. The weather was perfect—and it’s the first Lancaster Craft Beerfest that utilized the new Ewell Plaza along with Binn’s Park for a large festival experience great to celebrate the end-of-summer season.

“This was my first Lancaster Craft Beerfest, and I cannot stress enough how much fun it was,” said Cara Walker, attendee of the beerfest. “From the selection of breweries and vendors to the music to the organization and set-up, everything worked together to create an atmosphere that was filled with camaraderie and an appreciation for Lancaster. It was truly one of my favorite events of the summer!”

Of course the main draw of the event was the over 30 breweries that participated in the beerfest ranging from local favorites to regional staples, plus a few non-beer spots including Meduseld Meadery and KLYR Rum. The team wanted a great mix for everyone to explore while they sampled favorites and checking out new options. Check out the full list of breweries that participated here!

“The relaunch of the Lancaster Craft Beer Festival feels like a stellar success,” said Nicole Berkbile, from South County Brewing Company. “We were thrilled with the turn out, and the opportunity to chat with our fans and make some new ones! Looking forward to next year already. Thanks to all the hard working folks who busted a sweat with us on Saturday!”

2 - Delicious Food & Live Music

"As a vendor, Lancaster Craft Beerfest is always an event we look forward to for a few reasons,” said Michael Kambouroglos, owner of Souvlaki Boys. “First and foremost, it's a very well organized and well run event, which means you know what to expect and you know where you stand. Also, it's a fun event in the community that brings out people who are there for a good time, so the vibe is great. Finally, the organizers do a good job of selecting a few very good food vendors, which provide a fun mix of offerings and opportunity for each to be successful. We're looking forward to next year!"

Food vendors included Souvlaki Boys, Cabalar, Diyo Fusion, Gnawjaw Jerky (and bacon!), Lancaster Pickle Company, and Scoop’s. It was a fantastic lineup of local favorites for everyone to enjoy.

The beerfest featured two bands that elevated the atmosphere with chill jams. Andy Mowatt’s Steely Jam showcased their retro sound and modern funk for the first session while Band Of Llamas, PA’s roots-rock-funk-blues group, energized the second session. We’re thankful for both groups that provided great tunes that added to the energy of the day!

3 - Investing In Community: Thanks To Our Sponsors & Supporters

The many sponsors and supporters of the event truly helped make the return of the beerfest a success.

The Decades and beerfest team wants to extend a special thanks to the The Rotary Club of Lancaster Penn Square for being a Presenting Sponsor and benefactor of the event. Their mission helps elevate many aspects of our City and community, and having them as a presenting sponsor for the event was an honor!

We also want to thank our Event Sponsors Benchmark Construction Company, Inc. and The Restaurant Store. Both organizations choose to invest in our local community often—we are incredibly grateful to have them both be part of this celebration as they helped us bring it back!

Thank you to our Event Partners Stray Production Services for stage & audio coordination, RockHound Apparel for our sweet merch, BUiLDiNG CHARACTER for the delicious root beer & event maps, and Signarama Lancaster for our great banners and signs. All four organizations were dedicated in bringing varying important aspects of the beerfest to life.

We also had the incredible Brian Nguyen as our pro photographer capturing the many images of the event (including those in this article)!

Sponsors weren’t the only thing that helped make the event a success. The large team of volunteers was crucial to making the beerfest one of the best yet!

“It really took a whole team to make this happen,” said Tony Gorick, Decades Marketing & Sales Manager and coordinator of the beerfest volunteers. “Our volunteers are dedicated and incredible—I am so grateful for their help in making this whole celebration possible.”

From refilling ice to handing out tasting glasses, our volunteers helped every aspect of the beerfest to ensure it went well for all attendees!

We are grateful to all of those who attended one of the sessions, our great volunteers, all of the breweries, bands, and vendors, and all of our sponsors.

It felt good to be back to the City of Lancaser—and we can’t wait to toast again in 2025. Stay tuned.

Cheers!

The Food Of Lancaster Craft Beerfest

Good drinks need good eats.

The Lancaster Craft Beerfest is back on Saturday, August 24 2024 in beautiful downtown Lancaster, PA for an outdoor celebration featuring a variety of local & regional beer, live music, and more.

Tickets are on sale now!

Food is also key to a good time and we’re excited to create a lineup of delicious spots to offer a variety of unique local flavors.

Check out these 6 food spots that will be at the Lancaster Craft Beerfest and get your tickets now!

Cabalar

A Lancaster City staple known for their incredible burgers, Cabalar is once again returning to offer mouthwatering sandwiches.

Diyo Fusion

A new favorite, Diyo Fusion offers authentic Nepalese cuisine that packs a flavorful punch. We’re excited to have them for the first time at this beerfest.

Gnawjaw Premium Jerky

Back again is Gnawjaw Premium Jerky bringing their incredible sizzling crowd-pleasing bacon-on-a-stick!

Lancaster Pickle Company

We’re thankful Lancaster Pickle Company is returning along with their menu of unique pickle flavors!

Scoops

Scoops is back again to offer their menu of snackable sides and sandwiches

Souvlaki Boys

A renowned restaurant in Lancaster City, Souvlaki Boys returns and brings their delicious Greek cuisine to the beerfest.

Tickets are ON SALE NOW!

The event is 21+ only. Explore all of our FAQs here to prepare for the event.

Meet The 2024 Beerfest Sponsors

(updated on 8/30/2024)

We had a great Lancaster Craft Beerfest on Saturday, August 24 2024 for two sessions in the beautiful City of Lancaster!

Returning to Binn’s Park and the newly renovated Ewell Plaza, the beerfest created an experience for beer enthusiasts both local and regional. It was a fantastic celebration of flavors and community all blending into one big party.

It’s because of our incredible sponsors that we are able to return once again. Each sponsor helped to ensure we can continue this mission and host a community event that cultivates local growth, tourism, and elevation of our City.

MEET THE PRESENTING SPONSORS

Presenting Sponsors of the event are Decades and The Rotary Club of Lancaster Penn Square–the latter benefitting from a portion of ticket sales of the event. 

“The Rotary Club of Lancaster Penn Square is excited to partner with Lancaster Craft Beerfest to bring this great event back to downtown Lancaster,” said Sherry Harry, President, Rotary Club of Lancaster Penn Square. “This fun event showcases many local businesses and proves to be a good time for all.”

Joycat Events, the organization that created and managed the beerfest for the last seven festivals, is now under the Decades Lancaster umbrella since ownership of both businesses are now combined. Decades is also excited to be a presenter of the beerfest as it returns once again to Lancaster City.

MEET THE EVENT SPONSORS

We were grateful to have both Benchmark Construction and The Restaurant Store as Event Sponsors to help bring the Lancaster Craft Beerfest back and better than ever. 

"We’re excited to support the Lancaster Craft Beerfest because of the opportunity it provides to bring people together and support the City of Lancaster,” said Mike Callahan, Chairman of the Board at Benchmark Construction. “There’s nothing better to us than celebrating the city we’ve helped transform since 1985 through various construction projects.”

It was a great event that combined the support of the community with opportunity to reach many different visitors.

"We are excited to sponsor the 2024 Lancaster Craft Beerfest and support our local breweries and our friends at Decades,” said Melissa Bachman, Marketing Director at The Restaurant Store. “Our community has an amazing food and beverage scene, and this event brings us together to help celebrate that."

MEET THE EVENT PARTNERS

We welcomed four Event Partners to help shape the experience for beerfest attendees. Meet the lineup below!

BUILDING CHARACTER

Building Character served root beer at their stand for designated drivers (and any other root beer fans!) while showcasing many of their cool Lancaster merch items for sale.

ROCKHOUND APPAREL

RockHound Apparel created our 2024 Lancaster Craft Beerfest tshirts!

STRAY

STRAY Productions is responsible for our audio, staging, and production to ensure our live music and space was perfect for the celebration.

SIGNARAMA

Signarama created our assortment of banners, brewery signage, direction signs, and more, to help showcase all of the different spots, sponsors, and routes during the festival.

We are also grateful for Brian Nguyen, Lancaster PA content creator, who took photos of the event.

We were excited to be back and can’t wait to toast to good beer and good times again in 2025. Cheers!

6 Reasons To Attend Lancaster Craft Beerfest

Beerfest is back for 2024!

On Saturday August, 24 2024, the eighth annual Lancaster Craft Beerfest is returning to the vibrant, growing, and creative City of Lancaster after a hiatus due to the pandemic and other projects downtown. 

Get tickets HERE NOW! Grab them soon to get first selection on the session of your choice. New breweries, live music, and food vendors are all continually being added for the big celebration!

“We’re excited to bring back the Lancaster Craft Beerfest in 2024 for its eighth edition,” said Chris Trendler, Partner. “We are dedicated to once again bringing a variety of local and regional breweries to create an incredible experience for beer enthusiasts.”

The last seven festivals were a blast and we look forward to bringing this back and better than ever! Our goal is to provide craft beer drinkers with an amazing selection of unique beers so they can discover new flavors and revisit old favorites.

Here’s 6 reasons to visit Lancaster Craft Beerfest–an experience you don’t want to miss. 

1 - All About Location

The fest is conveniently located in the heart of downtown Lancaster in the newly-updated 100 block of North Queen Street featuring Ewell Plaza and Binns Park. We'll have breweries, an assortment of live music on the main stage, a food court featuring delicious eats, and other vendors–all backed by the beautiful downtown atmosphere of historic Lancaster, PA blending old architecture with modern vibes.

2 - Top Breweries, Top Flavors

We pride ourselves on curating a great lineup of local & regional breweries perfect for the beer enthusiasts. With seven years of relationships built with incredible brewers and top newcomers, we’re excited to once again bring the flavor to the fest and feature new tastes along with classic favorites. 

Explore our current lineup of breweries here and keep checking back as we add more!

3 - Easy Parking, Walkable Lodging

There are convenient parking garages and hotels within two blocks of the beerfest for easy access to the event. The Holiday Inn Lancaster is on the 100 block and the Lancaster Marriott is the next block over. Room availability is limited so it’s encouraged to explore room options soon. A good beerfest needs easy places to park and stay nearby, and we’re grateful to have a location surrounded by options. 

4 - Choose Your Session

With two sessions to choose from the beerfest can be an early (Noon-3pm) or evening (4-7pm) affair. Tickets are limited so it’s encouraged to get them now to ensure you get the session of your choice. Each session includes all the same vendors, food & sample options, and an array of live music. It’s a party no matter the time of day. 

5 - Music & More

It’s more than just beer. The festival features a lineup of live music throughout the event while a food area packed with delicious eats helps match the brews you’re enjoying all session. All of it combined creates an outdoor block party perfect for celebrating summer in the city (with your favorite brew in hand). 

6 - Your Ticket Makes an Impact

This year we’ve partnered with The Rotary Club of Lancaster Penn Square with a portion of ticket sales going to their mission. Learn more about what the organization does at lancpennsquarerotary.org. We are grateful for the work they are doing for our community.

“After a long few years without the fest, the event is returning to Binn’s Park and the new Ewell Plaza downtown,” said Jonathan Yeager, Partner. “We are looking forward to welcoming guests to our vibrant City again for this unique experience. Many beerfest fans have been asking when it’s returning, and we’re excited to finally be back!”

Tickets are ON SALE NOW! Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to be the first to know updates on breweries, music, and more. 

The event is 21+ only. Explore all of our FAQs here to prepare for the event.

We’re excited to be back and can’t wait to toast to good beer and good times. Cheers!

Journey To Beerfest 2024

“We’re excited to bring back the Lancaster Craft Beerfest in 2024 for its eighth edition,” said Chris Trendler, Partner. “We are dedicated to once again bringing a variety of local and regional breweries to create an incredible experience for beer enthusiasts.”

The Lancaster Craft Beerfest is returning to the City of Lancaster on Saturday, August 24, 2024 with two sessions.

Tickets for the beerfest are on sale now - get them here!

Chris Trendler, Jonathan Yeager, and Adam Ozimek decided to start the Lancaster Craft Beerfest in 2012 with the first festival launching in 2013 as part of the Joycat Events organization. The three partners grew up together in Lancaster, PA and always had ideas to create exciting experiences for both local guests in the community and visitors to our area. 

Chris, Jonathan, and Adam - creators & Owners of Beerfest and Decades Lancaster

Since then, the friends partnered once again to create Decades–a 45 game retro game, full restaurant, bar, bowling alley, and events venue in the City of Lancaster that has just celebrated its 5-year anniversary in March 2024. 

The organization has combined to be under one umbrella for ease of management and to streamline operations as the beerfest returns after a 5-year hiatus that began in 2020 due to the pandemic. 

Mike Miville, of MMVIsuals, captured this incredible overhead photo of a past beerfest. The look and feel of the space has been elevated for 2024, with the construction completed on the new Ewell plaza offering a fresh, modern design along with historical architecture downtown.

“After a long few years without the fest, the event is returning to Binn’s Park and the new Ewell Plaza downtown,” said Jonathan Yeager, Partner. “We are looking forward to welcoming guests to our vibrant City again for this unique experience. Many beerfest fans have been asking when it’s returning, and we’re excited to finally be back!”

A lookback at the team over the years of this tradition! This is a shot from 2013.

LEFT: 2014. RIGHT: 2015.

LEFT: 2016. RIGHT: 2017.

LEFT: 2018. RIGHT: 2019.

Adam, Chris, and Jonathan have been hard at work to bring back the popular event to the vibrant City of Lancaster for guests, both local and visiting, to enjoy an outdoor block party packed with beer.

The team has partnered with The Rotary Club of Lancaster Penn Square to add a giving back element to the beerfest this year.

With the City of Lancaster ever-growing with arts & culture, and tourism continuing to rise, it’s the perfect time to once again host the Lancaster Craft Beerfest in the beautiful, outdoor downtown location curated for an unforgettable experience with good times and great hops. 

Tickets are ON SALE NOW - get them here.

More information on breweries, vendors, sponsors, and volunteer opportunities will be coming soon within the next few weeks. Please reach out to beerfest@decadesbowl.com with any questions. Learn more at lancastercraftbeerfest.com.