As the leaves change and the fall air is a little cooler, it’s time for beer festival season in New Mexico.
Bernalillo’s flagship event, the Mountain West Brew Fest, is back for its ninth year.
The outdoor festival, held this year on Saturday, Aug. 24, will take over Loretto Park and features New Mexico craft breweries and spirits from throughout the Southwest.
For Christina Jones, executive director of economic development for Bernalillo, it’s the first beer festival she’s organized for the town.
“We’re keeping the event similar to past years, because I’m trying to see what works and what doesn’t,” she said. “We do plan on making big changes in the future, but I didn’t want to come in and make sweeping changes just as I took on the position.”
Jones took on the director position in early January after managing events and handling tourism marketing for Bernalillo’s El Zocalo event center.
“This event is important for Bernalillo, because we want to have more community events for the town to enjoy,” she said. “We’re trying to create more events to draw tourism and still have a community-centered event.”
Like any good beer event, there’s a live music line-up starting at 11 a.m. with country music by The Brandon Saiz Band. Lively music with cumbia flavor starts at 1 p.m. with Triple X Band 505. At 3 p.m. is more country music from The Panhandlers and fusion band Catalyst Unknown takes the stage at 5 p.m.
Munch on delicious food from local food vendors and food trucks. This year, each adult ticket purchased comes with a pint glass and seven free samples of any of the craft brews.
Jones says the town is already planning ahead for the 2026 Centennial celebration of Route 66.
“Bernalillo is on historic Route 66, and we’re planning our events around that in a big way, including the brew fest,” she said.
This year’s event is from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for designated drivers and kids. For more information on the event and to purchase tickets in advance, visit mwbrewfest.org.
I’m originally from Bernalillo. Big crowds of tourists haven’t been around for years since the wine festival went away. Beer fest hasn’t brought in much tourists. I believe it has not brought a whole lot to our community. Bernalillo is not the same without the wine festival. Bring the wine festival back and also do other events for our community Christina Jones. Outsiders to our community to come and try to direct our community isn’t good and not knowing our culture doesn’t help our community.