Wow, it’s been a week since the Oregon Brewers Festival in Portland and I still haven’t posted all the pictures from the festival. Take Saturday, for example, which is traditionally the crazy day at OBF, where it becomes so crowded that it’s even hard to get a beer. This year, though, crazy isn’t strong enough to describe how crowded it was. Lines were record length, especially for popular beers like 21A’s Watermelon Wheat and Pliny the Elder. In all, there were 73 different craft beers from 18 states served at the festival.

Here’s how the festival went this year, as summarized in a press release:

The nation’s largest outdoor craft beer festival witnessed record attendance with 70,000 people, a 15 percent increase over last year’s all time high. Beer sales followed suit, also showing a 15 percent increase. The four-day event concluded on July 27th at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

“We weren’t sure what to expect for attendance and sales given the economic situation, but we were prepared to take a hit,” explained festival director and founder Art Larrance. “Instead, rising gas prices seemed to have helped us. People are staying home this summer, and many chose to partake of our city’s mass transit and explore festivals taking place in their own backyard.”

The event kicked off on July 24th with a one-mile parade by brewers and beer lovers on the city’s sidewalks, led by Portland Mayor Tom Potter and accompanied by a small marching band. Upon arrival at the venue, Mayor Potter swung a wooden mallet to drive the brass tap into the official first keg of the festival, presented by Widmer Brothers Brewing Co.

Inside the tents at OBF, merriment reigned supreme.
 

For more photos from Saturday during this year’s OBF, visit the photo gallery.