On Saturday, All About Beer Magazine hosted its World Beer Festival in Durham, offering unlimited two ounce servings of more than 300 craft beers. There were two sessions on the day, one from noon to 4:00 p.m., and the next from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event was held at Durham Athletic Park, the former home of the Durham Bulls.

According to allaboutbeer.com, this is the 18th year World Beer Festival occurred in Durham.

Adam Hayes, who attended the session beginning at noon, is an alumnus of N.C. State and said he enjoyed his first ever beer festival for obvious reasons.

“We hadn’t been there before, and I like drinking a bunch of different kinds of beer,” Hayes said.

Large tents were set up in what would normally be the outfield of the park, with many beer venders set up underneath—offering draft, canned and bottled beer from various breweries throughout the world. 

Hayes said getting to try various North Carolina beers in particular was one his favorite things about the festival. In some instances, craft beers can be difficult to obtain, with some only being sold in their respective breweries.

“I don’t know where you buy [these rare beers], I know some are specific to certain restaurants,” Hayes said.

Although he said that the experience was overall a very good one, he said that the crowd, mixed with the unseasonable heat, was a little much at times. 

“It was too hot, but it’s normally a good time of the year to do it,” Hayes said.

Hayes said that a little more space in between the vendors might make the festival a little more comfortable. 

In addition to the crowd inside of the festival, Hayes said that long lines, which wrapped around the outside fences of the park, made him about 30 minutes late to the event.  

“It was a little bit of mess getting in,” Hayes said.

Hayes said that he would prefer that in the future the venue let people in but just not allow any drinking until the start time, helping to alleviate overcrowding outside and delays getting started.

Once it did get started, the festival featured live music to go along with the beer. Chris Overstreet, Skinny Bag of Sugar and Canine Heart Sounds were on the bill to play the festival throughout the day, according to allaboutbeer.com.

Additionally, food trucks from various vendors, including Rudino’s, MacUroni and Only Burger, were set up throughout the event that allowed people to purchase food.

Hayes said that he definitely plans to return next year, but said that one particular decision he made definitely helped him enjoy himself more and be responsible as well.

“The best decision that we made was taking a cab, I recommend that for everybody,” Hayes said.

The festival also offered shuttles to Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Durham for safe travel.