08/21/2025
2025 Utah Beer Festival Official Statement
From our humble start to our still humble heart today, there are no words that can fully convey the depth of our regret nor the disappointment we feel that has been clearly expressed to us by many of you, particularly those who attended the UBF on Saturday afternoon. We are sorry for that. For all of our 15 years, the UBF has been a cherished and anticipated community event for all of our partners—brewers, vendors and visitors alike. It hurts to know that for some of you it was a negative experience.
It is the responsibility of the UBF to create the best and safest environment possible for everyone—which has occurred for all of our years. This year, decisions were made that affected the 2025 experience, predicated on events at the 2024 UBF that caused us to make a painful choice: Abandon the UBF entirely or reshape it in a new form. We did not convey those changes effectively.
The event was quickly overwhelmed on Saturday as 80% of the attendees arrived in the first two and a half hours of a seven-hour event--which has never happened before. That created the perfect storm for an untested format, creating real frustration.
We are evaluating all aspects of the Utah Beer Festival. Should we continue with it, the same mistakes will not be made again. Event signage, format and pre-event messaging will improve. It must. To that end, we will keep you informed on our social pages, the event website and newsletters--as well as in City Weekly and other media--in more detail of circumstances regarding the 2025 UBF. We understand how you feel. You deserve to know more.
This message is not enough. We hope you retain trust that City Weekly has the back of Utah’s beer, club and hospitality industry at heart. This is equally true for festival attendees.
You are welcome to send me your feedback and questions.
Sincerely,
Pete Saltas
City Weekly, Publisher
Utah Beer Festival, Director
[email protected]
