New for 2012, the GABF awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, October 13 at 10:30 am.
The ceremony will be held in the Wells Fargo Theatre, located on the first floor of the Colorado Convention Center. Attendance will be open to all badged brewery representatives, competition judges, media, sponsors and festival staff.
What does this mean for festival attendees?
First, the general public will not be able to attend the awards ceremony, but this change has allowed for a number of improvements.
Moving the awards ceremony location has allowed the BA to change the festival floor plan to accommodate 110 additional breweries pouring in the hall–23 percent more than in 2011. And it allows the ceremony to occure earlier in the day, so attendees will know the results sooner and have more time to sample the winning beers during the Saturday afternoon Members-Only session. This will also allow brewers to return to their booths sooner on Saturday afternoon to interact with festivalgoers.
Beer enthusiasts will be able to follow along with the awards ceremony, as the event will be streaming live on The Brewing Network. Saturday afternoon attendees can also catch the end of the ceremony on TV monitors throughout the festival hall and watch a complete replay afterwards. With an estimated 4,300 beers entered in this year’s GABF competition, it’s expected to be the biggest and most competitive one yet.