Cheers to Brewgaloo Craft Beer Festival: Savor the Flavor of NC’s Best (April 24 + 25)

Beer lovers, grab your pint glasses and nominate your DD, it’s time for Brewgaloo Raleigh! If you love tasting local craft beers of all different styles, the Brewgaloo Craft Beer Festival in downtown Raleigh is the largest NC craft beer festival, and one of the biggest beer fests in the USA! Not only do you get a chance to taste-test beers from many of the local Raleigh breweries, but also from breweries all over the state of North Carolina – and cideries for the non-beer drinkers!

We don’t just love it for the beer, but for the fun, friendly atmosphere of the revellers. We always meet new people, run into friends and readers, and can find a group dance party to join in on. It’s the community that makes Raleigh so unique and such a fun place to live. Brewglaoo epitomises that!

For the love of all things beer-related, this fun two-day festival on the 24th & 25th April, 2026, is a great time to kick-off the Spring season with a frothy head and taste beer from around NC. Here’s everything you need to know about this lively festival…

What is Brewgaloo NC Craft Beer Festival?

Brewgaloo Raleigh is a 2-day festival that features over 110 craft breweries from around NC, plus 50+ local food trucks, 30+ local vendors, and local bands on two stages – all adding up to a lively sampler event held on Fayetteville Street in the heart of the city. Brewgaloo typically has an attendance of over 60,000+ people each year, making it North Carolina’s largest craft beer festival and also the largest single state craft beer festival in existence.

As well as beer sampling, the festival offers live entertainment and encourages you to shop local with stalls from local businesses from Raleigh and beyond. It’s one of the reasons Raleigh is known as one of the best beer regions in NC! It was also the winner of USA Today’s 10 Best List for best beer festivals in the USA three years in a row, including sitting at #6 in 2025’s list, and currently sitting pretty at #2 in 2026’s! You can choose to attend one of two days, or both.

Friday Night Block Party (April 24th, 2026)

April 24th 2026 is when the festival officially kicks off. Brewgaloo Festival starts off with a Friday night’s kick-off party, also known as a block party (a mini-version of Saturday’s street festival).

Friday night’s block party is from 6:00pm – 10:00pm in City Plaza (Fayetteville St) and is free to attend if you don’t plan on drinking, but if you do buy a ticket, your ticket gets you unlimited 3 oz samples of limited releases, barrel aged beers, and sour beers that you won’t find at Saturday’s event. 

For one flat price you can choose from over 50 beers to sample with unlimited 3 oz pours. Friday night’s sampler party features limited-release, barrel-aged, and sour beers along with some of your tried-and-true NC craft favorites. Many of the beers available Friday evening will not be for sale on Saturday. 

You can grab dinner from one of the local food trucks, shop with local vendors, and enjoy live music during this low-key tasting event. The Brewgaloo Block Party is the perfect start to the weekend.  Music line up across two stages will be SouLe & The SuperBand, Dawson Wright, and DJ Baptiste.

• Tickets can be purchased online in advance, and are $40 online up until March 31st, and $45 between April 1st and the 23rd, and $55 on the day of the event.
• Allow 1-2 business days for tickets to be posted to you.
• Learn more about the Friday night block party here. 

Saturday Street Festival (April 25th, 2026)

The following day is the Saturday Street Festival, the main event. Saturday’s street festival spans the length of Fayetteville Street and fills Downtown Raleigh. It features more than 110 NC craft breweries, nearly 50 local food trucks, and dozens of local vendors and multiple stages of live local entertainment line the streets of downtown Raleigh.

There’s no admission fee to walk around the festival – it’s FREE to enter and open to the public, but you need to purchase a drink ticket to enjoy NC craft beers and ciders.

Drinks are available for purchase in 3 oz samples (2 tickets) or by the pint (5 tickets). Drink tickets will be sold in bundles of 25 for 2026. Prices of bundles will increase the closer you get to the event. If you purchase them online in advance, you can get bundles of 25 for $30 until April 16th, or $35 from April 17th – April 24th. On the day drinks ticket bundles cost $40 for bundle of 25 or $24 for bundle of 15.

In all, over 300 NC craft beverages are available by redeeming your tickets for a 3 oz sample or full pint size pour. Hop from tent to tent and try the best in craft beer from all North Carolina breweries and cideries. The Saturday event takes place from12:00pm until 8:00pm. Across the two stages will be a DJ and live music.

Note: We highly recommend you purchase tickets in advance to avoid lines on the day as well as to save money. Purchase tickets from here: ShopRaleigh.org/brewgaloo Food trucks and vendors accept cash and credit card payments.

What NC breweries are attending?

Some popular breweries you may find at Brewgaloo are:

BREWERIES

• Abyss Brewing Co.
• Altered State Brewing
• Appalachian Mountain Brewery and Cidery
• Brewery Bhavana
• Brunswick Beer and Cider
• Carolina Brewery
• Carolina Brewing Company
• Clouds Brewing
• Deep River Brewing Company
• JoCo Brewing
• R&D Brewing
• Sugar Creek Brewing Company
• Tobacco Wood Brewing Company
• Triple C Brewing
• Trophy Brewing Company
• Wild Dogs Brewing
• Wise Man Brewing
• Wye Hill Kitchen & Brewing
• Bull City Ciderworks
• James Creek Cider House

And so many more! Click here to see the full list. If you are gluten free, like I am, you will have seltzer and cider options as well. Our favorite Oak City Bubbly truck is usually there serving wine!

What food trucks are attending?

Some of our favorite food trucks from last year may be gracing their appearance this year. See the full list here, and be sure to look out for our local favs Not Just A Fry Guy and Two Roosters Ice Cream.

What bands are playing at Brewgaloo?

On the Friday night, see performances by SouLe & The SuperBand, Dawson Wright, and DJ Baptiste. On Saturday, there are two stages with performances throughout the day. On the City Plaza Stage, there will be music from Blue Sky Crying, Cosmic Superheroes, Mellow Swells, Trash van Fever, and Crucial Fiya. On the Capitol Stage, there will be music from Will McBride Group, INSAAN, Sugar Snap Peas, Sound System Seven and 2Digh4. DJ Uniq will be holding a dance party in the Courthouse. See the full schedule and show times here.

FAQs about Brewgaloo

Before You Go

Brewgaloo tickets can be scanned on your smart phone or from a paper print out. IDs will be checked upon entry. You MUST HAVE A WRISTBAND AND TICKETS TO DRINK. 

Ticket booths and wristband stations are located on Martin, Davie, and Hargett Streets between Fayetteville and Salisbury.Will we see you there? If you want to get a taste of Raleigh and support all things local, then don’t pass up on a taste of Brewgaloo Raleigh beer festival!