2012 Pensacola Beer Festival Cancelled

You may have noticed we recently removed the Pensacola Beer Festival from our events calendar. Unfortunately, this is the second year in a row the Pensacola Beer Festival has been cancelled at the last minute.

The inaugural event was announced in 2010 and scheduled to take place in April 2011 at the Pensacola Civic Center:

The first annual Pensacola beer fest will consist of 4 events over 3 days at the Pensacola Civic Center April 15th thru the 17th 2011. We will be showcasing microbrews from around the US and local businesses. We have a great line up planned for our guest.

A month before the scheduled event ticket prices and entertainment were announced along with a promise of '120 different beers':

For the price of admission ($33 general admission or $50 for VIP). You will be able to sample 120 different beers and 20 different wines. For entertainment: We have at least 14 bands, a bikini pageant, and local businesses marketing their services and selling their products. TK 101 and Cat Country will be doing live remote feeds.

However, at the last minute festival organizers cancelled the event citing a pulled liquor license:

The Pensacola Beer Fest has been canceled/delayed. Someone has persuaded the Fairgrounds to pull their Liquor License less than a month before our event. Now, I have to find a new venue or another Liquor License. Unfortunately, I can not do this in the next 3 weeks.

Only days later event organizers announced that the Pensacola Beer Festival was back on, and although the dates would have to be pushed back, a bigger and better festival was promised:

The Pensacola Beer Fest is back on. Although, the dates have been pushed back..due to summer time and other obligations. The added bonus is...it will be BIGGER and BETTER with more bands and more Beer!! Look for details on the event this fall. A special thanks to the team at the Pensacola Fairgrounds (Don, John and Shirley) for helping me put this back together.

In July of 2011 event organizers announced new dates and appeared even more excited about the upcoming 2012 festival:

April 13th to April 15th FOUR events over three days..it is going to be insane.

In January of this year organizers, noting that the Pensacola Beer Festival was 'around the corner', announced that vendor, food booths and sponsorship spots were still available:

The beer fest is around the corner. We still have vendor, food booths, and sponsorship spots available. Check website for details and cost www.pensacolabeerfest.com or email me at pensacolabeerfest@gmail.com for details.

Around this time we noticed that although the dates April 13th to 15th were the festival dates most mentioned, the banner of their official website listed the dates as March 13th to 15th. We emailed event organizers who responded that the dates were April 13th to 15th and thanked us for our email.

On March 25, however, again only days away from the actual event, and for the second time in two years, the Pensacola Beer Festival was cancelled. This time low ticket sales were blamed:

Regrettably, I must announce that the beer fest will not happen this year. Last year, I ran into licensing problems, which cost me a lot of money. This year sponsors and vendors were reluctant to be involved when I had limited ticket sales. The problem is most people want to wait until the last minute to decide, if they want or can attend the event or not, so with only limited ticket sales. The sponsors and vendors were not interested in investing. I completely understand that in a poor economy...it is difficult for patrons to commit or not. Unfortunately, I can not afford to put this event on solely by myself. I have refunded all ticket sales. I apologize for any inconveniences and I hope that in the future I can put on a fun cool big event for the city that I love. Thanks.

Though a week has passed the Pensacola Beer Festival website is still promoting the cancelled event (and still has a banner with the incorrect event dates). The Pensacola Beer Fest twitter account also makes no mention of the cancellation.

For two consecutive years the Pensacola Beer Festival has been planned for the Spring, dates and venues changed often, and the event eventually cancelled. With the Emerald Cost Beer Festival in the Fall, there's no reason a city the size of Pensacola, with a growing craft beer scene, can't support a second beer festival early in the year.

Hopefully the organizers behind the Pensacola Beer Festival can find a way to make the event happen in the near future or someone else can successfully bring another beer festival to Pensacola.