Pennsylvania Avenue NW near the National Gallery of Art turns into a sea of tasting glasses Saturday as Snallygaster, one of the biggest beer festivals in the country, returns for its 14th year. Organizers expect a crowd closer to 8,000 people, a dramatic jump from the roughly 3,000 attendees who showed up when the festival launched in 2012.
The event runs on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 3rd and 7th streets, with general admission starting at 2 p.m. Saturday, according to snallygasterdc.com. A $75 admission ticket includes unlimited tastes of 450 different beers, plus unlimited wine and cocktail tastings and a commemorative tasting glass. Greg Engert, who helps run the festival, told WTOP News that the $75 ticket gets attendees unlimited tastes of 450 different beers from 175 brewers from around the world.
Exact numbers vary depending on the source. Snallygaster's own site describes no fewer than 450 beers from 166 American and international producers, while Northern Virginia Magazine reports more than 450 draft beers, gravity kegs, and bottle and can pours from 164 local, national and international producers. Either way, the lineup represents a sizable jump from the festival's early years, and organizers say the growth hasn't slowed.
Tickets, Timing and What's Included
Beyond the $75 general admission option, Northern Virginia Magazine reports that designated-driver passes cost $30 for adults, young-adult tickets run $10, and children under 12 get in free. A VIP Basilisk pass adds two hours of early access before the general crowd arrives, per snallygasterdc.com. Published end times differ across listings — Northern Virginia Magazine lists the festival running noon to 6 p.m., while the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency lists it as running until 7 p.m.
The festival bills itself as family-friendly, with activities for children woven into a day otherwise built around beer, wine and cocktails. Attendees can also expect a backdrop of local food trucks and two stages of live music, according to the official event site. Neighborhood Restaurant Group puts on the festival, which has grown from a modest launch into one of the region's signature fall events.
Virginia Brewers in the Mix
Among the Virginia producers pouring at this year's festival are Aslin Beer Company, Commonwealth Brewing Company, Crooked Run Fermentation, Mieza Blendery, Ocelot Brewing Company, Port City Brewing Company and Wheatland Spring Farm + Brewery, according to Northern Virginia Magazine. District Fray reports that about 35 new breweries join the Snallygaster lineup each year, and organizers say brewer attendance — particularly from overseas producers — has exploded over time. Engert told WTOP that the festival keeps getting bigger and better as brewers are added.
A Fundraiser for DC's Food System
Snallygaster serves as the largest annual fundraiser for Arcadia, according to Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Arcadia is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a more equitable and sustainable local food system in the Washington, D.C. area, the organization says. Every ticket sold Saturday effectively supports that mission alongside a day of beer tastings, food trucks and music.
Craft Beer's Rocky National Backdrop
The festival's growth comes even as the broader craft beer industry has struggled. U.S. craft beer production fell 4% in 2025 to 22.034 million barrels, according to the Brewers Association. Retail dollar value for craft beer dropped 2.8% to $28 billion, and the number of operating U.S. craft breweries declined 2.9% to 9,578. New brewery openings fell sharply to 300 in 2025, down from 518 the year before, while closures also eased to 481 from 591, the Brewers Association reports. The trade group describes the industry outlook as cautiously optimistic, noting craft's share of the overall beer market by volume actually ticked up slightly, from 13.2% to 13.4%.
Engert acknowledged the shift in the market, telling WTOP that craft beer has softened somewhat even as it's become widely available, offering drinkers far more options today than when Snallygaster began. That tension — a national industry in correction mode alongside a local festival still expanding its footprint — frames Saturday's gathering on Pennsylvania Avenue as something of an outlier in an otherwise uncertain year for craft brewers.
