Untappd Beer Festival was infamous in 2019. It’s coming back to Charlotte for another try
The Untappd Beer Festival — known for having a bit of a difficult past in Charlotte — is coming back this June to give it another shot in a new location in Elizabeth and split into two sessions.
This year, festival goers will be able to sip unlimited beer samples from more than 300 choices provided by 100 of the social networking platform’s highest rated breweries while listening to live music. Charlotte-area breweries participating include Amor Artis Brewing, Free Range Brewing, Legal Remedy Brewing, Legion Brewing, Lenny Boy Brewing Co., Lost Worlds Brewing, Salud, Olde Mecklenburg Brewing, Traust Brewing, Weathered Souls Brewing and more.
“After an extremely successful Untappd Beer Festival last year in San Diego, we couldn’t be more excited to return home to Charlotte,” said Talia Spera, Untappd’s vice president for festivals and live events.
2022 festival details
WHEN: Saturday, June 18. Session one VIP entry starts at 11 a.m., with doors open for general admission at noon and closing at 3:30 p.m. Session two VIP entry starts at 5:30 p.m., with general admission starting at 6:30 p.m. and wrapping up for the night at 10 p.m.
WHERE: American Legion Memorial Stadium, 1218-1238 Armory Drive, Charlotte, NC 28204
TICKETS: Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m., Friday March 25. Early Bird discounted tickets will be available while supplies last or through Monday, March 28 at 8 a.m., when prices increase.
COST: General admission is $60, while VIP entry is $150. All entrants get a souvenir tasting cup. VIP ticket holders get an hour extra at the festival, along with access to the VIP section, VIP only pours and a lanyard.
DONATION OPTION: You can also tack on a donation to Ales for ALS with your ticket purchase, which is a national fundraising campaign to raise money and awareness for ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Untappd in Charlotte
In 2019, the inaugural event in Charlotte went less than perfectly. Some tents didn’t get their kegs on time for VIP admission, leaving patrons who paid extra with fewer choices. Other attendees cited admission lines that wrapped around the building, long beer lines and broken signature souvenir cups — and that’s not including complaints about others getting turned away during a storm coinciding with the rain-or-shine festival, when beer sales were put on hold. It was being called the “Fyre Festival of Charlotte,” CharlotteFive reported at the time, and tweets about the conditions were trending nationally.
In 2020, the event was rescheduled and then canceled over COVID-19, along with most other events. Untappd gave it another shot and rescheduled for Bank of America Stadium in April 2021, but was later postponed indefinitely.
This story was originally published March 21, 2022 at 5:06 PM.
