Monday Night Brewing is bringing its Gluten Freedom Festival back to Atlanta on September 27, 2026, this time moving the celebration to the larger Monday Night Garage in the city's West End after its debut drew a bigger crowd than organizers expected. The festival promises a full day of dedicated gluten-free food, drinks, and activities for attendees with celiac disease, gluten sensitivities, or anyone simply looking for a safe place to eat well.
Monday Night Brewing co-founder and CEO Joel Iverson joined ATL Live to share details about the event, according to Atlanta News First. He was joined by Chelsea Ward, associated with The Local Graze, which is co-associated with the festival alongside Monday Night Brewing. The 2026 event marks the festival's second year, having moved from Monday Night Brewing's original Grove location in West Midtown, where the inaugural festival launched on September 28, 2025, according to Secret Atlanta. Strong turnout at that first event reportedly pushed organizers to seek a bigger venue for this year's return.
A Grassroots Community Behind the Scenes
The festival is co-organized alongside Gluten Free Atlanta, a local Facebook community founded in 2010 by Stephanie Pardue, who launched the group out of personal necessity due to a lack of local gluten-free resources, per The Beer Connoisseur. That group has since grown to more than 6,500 members seeking safe dining options across the metro area. The partnership underscores that this event has roots well beyond a single brewery's marketing calendar.
The Beer Connoisseur's reporting also traces the personal history behind Monday Night's gluten-free push. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last September that Iverson developed a gluten-free pizza recipe for his son, while head brewer Tim McDonnell created a gluten-free beer for his wife — family experiences that inspired the brewery's company-wide focus on gluten-free offerings. Following last year's inaugural festival, Monday Night Brewing expanded permanent Gluten Freedom programming across all of its taprooms, establishing dedicated gluten-free pizza menus, craft beers, ciders, and zero-proof drinks, per the same outlet's reporting.
Deep-Cleaned Kitchen and a Custom Beer Collaboration
Because cross-contamination poses a serious health risk for people with celiac disease, Monday Night Garage will deep-clean and convert its entire kitchen and prep area for dedicated gluten-free food preparation for the day, according to Secret Atlanta. This year's menu features dedicated gluten-free pizzas, wings, and burgers, along with a custom collaboration between Monday Night Brewing and food vendor Disco Chicken: gluten-free beer-battered onion rings made with the brewery's own gluten-free beer, according to Monday Night Brewing.
The festival will also host a community food drive, encouraging attendees to bring gluten-free canned or dry goods to donate to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, according to AllEvents. Gluten-free items are often underrepresented in emergency food relief supplies, making the drive a meaningful add-on to a day built around celebration.
Why the Need Runs Deeper Than One Festival
The event speaks to a public health reality that extends well beyond Atlanta. Roughly 1 in 133 Americans — about 1% of the population, or 3 million people — have celiac disease, though 60% to 83% remain undiagnosed, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Research compiled by Beyond Celiac also indicates that up to 6% of the U.S. population experiences non-celiac gluten sensitivity, a figure that helps explain the growing demand for verified gluten-free dining spaces.
Monday Night Garage sits at 933 Lee Street SW in Atlanta's historic West End, part of the Lee + White development along the Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail, a former industrial warehouse strip turned regional dining destination. Hoodline previously named it a top affordable brewery in the city, and the venue's larger footprint made it the natural choice as the Gluten Freedom Festival outgrew its original home. The Gluten Freedom Festival returns to Monday Night Garage on September 27, 2026.
-4.webp?w=160&h=400&fit=crop&crop=edges)