Michigan Brewers Guild adds full concert experience to Summer Beer Festival

The Michigan Brewers Guild’s Summer Beer Festival returns to Riverside Park in Ypsilanti’s Depot Town this July, and the 26th annual edition is bringing some new features to the tap list. In addition to the usual two-day showcase of Michigan-made beer, this year’s event will include a Saturday night concert headlined by Keller and the Keels, adding a fresh twist to one of the state’s cornerstone beer events.

The festival—set for Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26—is a signature event of Michigan Beer Month and remains one of the state’s most anticipated summer gatherings for craft beer fans and producers alike.

Friday: Classic Fest Format

Friday’s Summer Beer Festival format remains unchanged:

• 5–9 p.m. beer sampling
• 15 sample tokens per attendee (3 oz pours)
• Live music from Act Casual and DJ Prophet Ecks
• Tickets: $55 in advance, $65 day-of or at the gate

Additional tokens will be available for purchase on site

Saturday: Beer Sampling + Live Music Combo

Saturday brings a hybrid format:

• 3–6 p.m.: traditional sampling session with 15 tokens included
• 6–10 p.m.: festival transitions to a full-scale concert format
  • Attendees can redeem leftover tokens for full pours or purchase more
  • Concert access is included with a Saturday full ticket
• Headliner: Keller and the Keels, with Supercrunch opening at 7 p.m.
• Saturday full-day ticket: $60 advance, $70 day-of

Concert-Only Option

New this year is a concert-only ticket for Saturday evening.

• $40 in advance, $50 day-of
• Gates open at 6 p.m.
• Does not include sample tokens, but tokens and beer will be available for purchase
• Food vendors will be on site both days with a range of offerings throughout the park.

A Michigan Beer Mainstay

The Summer Beer Festival is the Guild’s longest-running event, first held in 1998 and now a fixture in a four-festival calendar that includes events in winter, spring, and fall. The Guild currently includes nearly 300 member breweries, and Michigan continues to rank in the top 10 nationally for total breweries—part of the reason it proudly wears the moniker: The Great Beer State.

Each MBG festival is produced by the industry, for the industry, with proceeds supporting the Guild’s mission to promote and protect Michigan craft beer.