Listen to this story 8:23
Jump to a section
Read aloud by an AI voice (ElevenLabs) from the story on this page, which is the full transcript. Tables and maps are summarized in the audio.
The Texas Craft Brewers Festival is Saturday, Nov. 14, at Fiesta Gardens in East Austin, and it is strictly 21 and over. General admission starts at 2 p.m., last call is 6:15, and the gates close at 6:30. Tickets are sold online only, there is no box office at the park, and the festival runs rain or shine, which matters this year: the National Weather Service forecast for Austin calls for a 30 percent chance of showers after noon Saturday.
According to ATX Things' read of the festival's own ticket page, info page and 2026 beer list (all read Nov. 12), here is what you need before you go. We have not been to this year's festival, and we could not reach organizers this morning, so everything below is attributed to their published pages.
No tickets at the gate. The festival says it has "a history of selling out in advance" and runs no on-site box office. The 12 p.m. VIP tier showed "Sold Out" on the ticket page when we read it Thursday morning. General admission was still listed, but that can change by the hour.
When does it start, and what does a ticket cost?
| Ticket | Entry | Price (fees included) | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| General admission | 2 p.m. | $60.87 | Tasting cup, 10 sample tickets |
| VIP | 12 p.m. | $108.56 (sold out when we checked) | Two hours early, cup, 10 samples, a take-home VIP beer, koozie necklace |
| Designated driver | 2 p.m. | $23.77 | Free snacks and non-alcoholic drinks |
| Tailgate Lounge add-on | Needs a ticket | $75.21 | Shaded seating, college football on a big screen, exclusive pours, Momo's Michelada bar |
Source: tickets.texascraftbrewersfestival.org, read Nov. 12, 2026. Tickets are non-refundable. You can hand your ticket to a friend, since names do not have to match, but everyone's ID is checked at the gate.
How much beer is actually in the ticket?
Ten samples, each a 3-ounce pour. That is 30 ounces over four and a half hours, and the festival says the per-person limit follows Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission rules. More samples are available on-site: $5 buys 10 extra tickets at the merch booth.
That booth is cashless. Bring a card. The info page says some individual food vendors may still take cash, so it is worth having a few bills, but do not count on it.
The festival lists more than 70 breweries and more than 200 beers, and it posts the list as "subject to changes." The 2026 roster runs from Austin names (512, Austin Beerworks, Live Oak, Jester King, Zilker) to Houston's Saint Arnold, Fort Worth's Martin House and breweries from Lubbock, Abilene, Waco and Galveston. The Texas Craft Brewers Guild, the nonprofit trade group that organizes the day, says it is the guild's largest fundraising event of the year.
Which special pours are tapped at a set time?
This is the part most guides skip. A number of breweries listed a specific tapping time, and the first ones land before general admission opens at 2.
| Time | Brewery | Beer (as listed) |
|---|---|---|
| 12:30 p.m. | Big Country Organic Brewing, Pflugerville | Country Daze, a pink lemonade pilsner |
| 12:30 p.m. | Red Horn Brewing, Leander | Bourbon barrel aged Suburban Ninja with Madagascar vanilla |
| 1:00 p.m. | (512) Brewing, Austin | Whiskey barrel aged double pecan porter |
| 2:30 p.m. | Vista Brewing, Driftwood | Voisine, a farmhouse ale with Texas Mourvèdre grapes |
| 4:00 p.m. | Saint Arnold, Houston | Funky Berry Christmas, a fruited barrel aged old ale |
| 4:00 p.m. | Martin House, Fort Worth | Roadhouse Coffee, an imperial barrel aged coffee stout |
| 5:00 p.m. | Jester King, Austin | 2026 SPON 3-year UK blend, a spontaneously fermented wild ale |
| 5:30 p.m. | Lazarus Brewing, Austin | Big Bad Wolf, a barrel aged imperial stout |
Source: texascraftbrewersfestival.org 2026 beer list, read Nov. 12. We picked eight of roughly thirty listed tappings; the full list is on the festival's site. Any tapping before 2 p.m. is effectively a VIP-hours pour, and the festival does not say how long a keg lasts, so if there is one you want, go near its time.
If a late tapping is the one you came for, save samples for it. The 5:00 and 5:30 pours come with only 45 to 75 minutes before last call at 6:15. Whether a keg runs out early is our guess, not something organizers said.
What is the weather plan for Saturday?
The NWS forecast pulled Thursday morning gives Saturday a high near 70, mostly sunny early, then a chance of rain showers after noon with east-southeast gusts as high as 25 mph. Saturday night is also at about a 30 percent chance. The festival has no rain date in its rules; its info page only covers postponement announced in advance.
Two details from the festival's prohibited list change how you pack:
- Umbrellas are banned. So are chairs, hammocks, coolers, backpacks and bags larger than 12 by 12 by 6 inches. Small handbags, fanny packs, drawstring bags and blankets are allowed. The lists do not mention rain jackets or ponchos either way, so a thin layer is a reasonable guess, but we have not confirmed it with organizers.
- Bring your own empty reusable water bottle. Glass is out, outside drinks are out, but empty non-glass bottles are allowed and free drinking water is on the grounds.
Security searches bags at entry and re-entry.
How do you get to Fiesta Gardens, and where do you park?
The main entrance is at the corner of Chicon Street and Nash Hernandez Senior Road, in the park at 2101 Jesse E. Segovia St., Austin, TX 78702. (The City of Austin's event listing shows the street number as 2100; use the festival's address for navigation.)
Parking is free on the streets around the park and along Lady Bird Lake, and it is limited and first-come. The festival asks people to avoid residential streets and not to block driveways. The city's event listing says signed no-parking areas are actively enforced on event day, and a car on park grass during a special event draws a $250 fine. The city also says no road closures are tied to this event.
The festival "highly recommends" other ways in: CapMetro, a bike (racks sit by the west-end entrance, and you bring your own lock), a rideshare or a pedicab. The nearest MetroRail station, Plaza Saltillo, is about a mile away, according to the info page. We do not have a verified drive time from any neighborhood this morning, so we are not guessing at one. With 21-plus drinking all afternoon, arranging the ride home before you arrive is the real plan.
Texas Craft Brewers Festival
GA $60.87What else is there besides beer?
The festival's home page lists food trucks Garbo's Lobster, YAPA Empanadas, The Mighty Cone, JABS Smash Burgers, an Obsidian Brewery pizza truck and Sweet Frida. Live music on the pavilion stage comes from Parker Woodland, Bat City Brass Band and DJ GrossYall. There are also an Austin Flea pop-up market, nine holes of mini golf from Hill Country Mobile Mini Golf and flash tattoos from Slowpoke. Lost and found is at the merch booth next to the north exit gate.
If the rain comes in, the Texas Book Festival at the Capitol (free, Saturday 10 to 5) is the other big thing happening this weekend, and our Texas Book Festival guide covers its own weather call. Golf fans can find the PGA Tour stop at Barton Creek in our Austin Championship guide.
What we could not confirm
- Whether general admission will sell out before Saturday (the festival warns it can).
- Whether ponchos are allowed through security.
- How long any special keg lasts after its tapping time.
- A weekday-evening or Saturday-afternoon drive time. No place-research key was available to this desk this morning.
- The city's street number for the park (2100) differs from the festival's (2101).
FAQ
Can I bring my dog? No. Pets are on the prohibited list, with an exception for service animals.
Can I buy tickets at the door? The festival says no. There is no on-site box office and tickets are online only.
Can someone under 21 come? No. The festival says nobody under 21 is admitted, including infants.
Is there free water? Yes. The festival says free rinse and drinking water is available through the grounds, and you can bring an empty non-glass bottle.
Does the festival run if it rains? Yes. It is listed as rain or shine.
Want more weekend plans? We publish twice a day, morning and afternoon, on what is actually open and actually happening. Follow @austintexasthings.
Related Austin Data
More Austin Guides
Share this article
