BY AVERY GOODSTINE for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 8/28/2026
A new kind of beer festival is coming to the South Puget Sound.
On Saturday, August 29, the McMillin Farm Collective in Puyallup is hosting the 2026 South Sound Brewers Fest for the very first time.
For $45, attendees will get unlimited craft beer tastings from five local breweries and then can vote on their favorite brew. The winner of the festival’s People’s Choice Award will get their winning beer featured on the menu at McMillin Farm Brewhouse through the month of September. And, of course, they’ll get bragging rights as well.
Todd Olson and Matt Avila of McMillin Farm Collective said they were inspired to host their own brewers fest because they wanted to offer bottomless drinks for one upfront price. Compare this to other similar festivals that charge an entry fee as well as ticket fees.
Participating breweries are McMillin Farm Brewhouse, Odd Otter Brewing, Firemind Brewing, Top Down Brewing, and Griffin Brewing Co. Judges will award medals for the best IPA, best non-IPA, and best local ingredient. The People’s Choice Award will be the fourth medal. Avila, who owns McMillin Farm Brewhouse, said they purposefully chose breweries within a 20-to-25-mile radius of the farm collective because they wanted to show off what the South Sound region has to offer in terms of beer.
“[The breweries] were all excited,” he said. “I mean, there are some that just couldn’t attend, just because of staffing and time of year. You know, it’s really busy for breweries. But the ones that are confirmed are really excited about it. So yeah, the hardest part is just getting the word out there.”
With the purchase of a ticket, everyone also gets a commemorative tasting glass, free event parking, and access to everything McMillin Farm Collective has to offer on its 40-acre lot.
Olson, who is the Brewers Fest event coordinator, said he also took to heart some feedback he received from the attending breweries about other similar events they’ve participated in. He said they purposefully didn’t include any ciders in the lineup because breweries have been frustrated in the past when a cider wins a People’s Choice Award at a beer festival. Additionally, in an effort to ensure that only people who are actually attending the festival can cast a People’s Choice vote, Olson said they designed an app specific to the event.
“We created an app specifically for the brew fest, which is going to register people when they come in. It’s tied to your ticket, and you get one vote for People’s Choice off of your ticket into the app,” he said. “But the app is also going to do a bunch of different things. It’s going to point people toward the food trucks and let people know what’s playing for the bands. Their set lists will be on there. All of the different beers will be listed. Plus, we’re doing some exciting little Easter eggs.”
There will also be a live People’s Choice leaderboard so that, as people cast their votes in the app, it will be updated in real time.
Olson highlighted that there will be a special nonalcoholic flight of sipping vinegars available, curated by Wild Heart Sipping Vinegars. While the event focuses on the local beer scene, Olson said, they still wanted to offer something special for those who don’t drink.
McMillin Farm Brewhouse and Odd Otter Brewing will also have nonalcoholic hop water available, and E9 Brewing Co. & Taproom is donating hop water, even though it can’t physically be at the festival.
A special “designated taster” ticket is available for $25 for those who want to participate in the event without partaking in the alcoholic beverages. The ticket includes unlimited hop water and sipping vinegar tastings.
For those looking for an extra-special experience, VIP tickets are available for $65 and allow entry one hour early to taste all the beers before the crowd arrives, as well as free VIP parking and a limited-edition 2026 South Sound Brewers Fest commemorative button.
Although this is the first year of Brewers Fest, Avila is no stranger to large community events on the farm. He regularly hosts night markets at McMillin Farm Collective, and the brewhouse just saw its sixth annual Hot Sauce Fest.
The South Sound Brewers Fest is also partnering with local nonprofit Celebrate HARVEST, which works to preserve family farms through agritourism, scholarships for experiential farming education, and programs that keep Washington’s rural communities thriving. The organization will receive a part of the ticket sales.
“It goes to a good cause. Since we are agritourism and they’re part of the agritourism, it just kind of works well together,” Avila said. “Especially because they teach the youth what farming does for the world. So the more kids who understand that and can perpetuate the farming, the less likely we’ll go hungry.”
In addition to the unlimited beer tastings, there will also be music from four local bands and 10 different food trucks. Attendees can enjoy live music from classic rock band Cheaper Than Therapy, original rock band Sons of the Force, and ’90s rock band The Dead End, and then Santa Poco will finish off the night as the headliner, an original country music band.
Overall, the festival is meant to be a community event that brings people together over their shared love of craft beer and celebrates the local breweries based throughout the South Sound.
“It’s a really good community,” Olson said. “Everybody knows everybody, and it’s nice to be able to bring them together and have a little fun, a little friendly competition.”
The South Sound Brewers Fest, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Aug. 29 at McMillin Farm Collective, 12517 state Route 162 E., Puyallup. Tickets at celebrateharvest.ticketspice.com/south-sound-brewers-fest
