It’s that time of year again! In fact, it’s been “that time” every year for the last 15 years.

Every year it’s new people, new beers and new breweries. As I’ve been talking to breweries these past few weeks and they are excited for this year’s April Brews Day on April 30th. For instance, Structures Brewing is offering up a few new beers at this year’s event. Be on the lookout. April Brews Day has spent 15 years as a stage for innovation in the brewing world. Breweries wait to release their best here.

Every year we convene on the Public Market on Railroad, across from Boundary Bay, listen to music and taste the tasty tasters. This year April Brews Day is bringing back the famed glass taster glasses, which is reason enough to attend!

I reached out to Kait Whitseside, the Executive Director of the Max Higbee Center. Max Higbee is the amazing organization that puts April Brews Day on. In case you weren’t aware, April Brews Day isn’t just about the beers! The brewery festival is major source of funding for the center.

Our Mission

We provide community-based recreation programs for youth and adults (14 and older) with developmental disabilities with three broad aims:

1) To provide opportunities for personal enjoyment and enrichment through a diverse range of leisure activities.
2) To promote the social, physical, and cognitive growth and emotional growth and development of participants.
3) To assist participants to achieve greater independence in their lives and increase involvement in the community.

 

Whitside said this year’s event will have games, contests and prizes for festival goers. They are also teaming up with Iron St. Printing for live merch printing. You can buy ABD 15th Anniversary memorabilia to remember the event with and support Max Higbee’s mission. Three bands will keep you entertained (as if the beer wasn’t enough), including Out of the Ashes, Marcel and Nakos, and Electric Soul Society.

There will be 5 more breweries this year, including some gluten free options like GhostFish and Ground Breaker. This year’s event will feature cideries for the first time. There will also be some new local breweries on board. The aforementioned Structures Brewing will be accompanied by the newly minted Fairhaven Stones Throw, Bellingham Beer Lab AND…Gruff Brewing. Yep, Gruff has been quietly working towards opening and they are kegging their beers. Chris at Gruff told me they recently kegged a sour saison. Looking forward to it all!

The confirmed brewers list is formidable. Ranging everywhere from Dead Frog Brewing out of BC, to the up and coming pFriem Family Brewers, to Island Hopping Brewery. All these breweries are there to showcase their wares and help uplift Max Higbee’s important mission.

Kait Whiteside,

The number one goal is to celebrate the 15th anniversary and the huge impact this event has had in our community and for Max Higbee Center. This event has become both a beloved community beer festival and a crucial contributor to keeping MHC’s doors open for recreation services for teens and adults with developmental disability. We plan to highlight and celebrate key supporters and thank the loyal attendees who have come to support ABD year after year. Each year ABD has grown in popularity and attendance, and we decided to focus on the increasing the quality of the event for attendees by improving the experience, rather than growing the number of people attending.

There are more accommodations for guests’ comfort, such as bathrooms, scrip sale tables, and exits. As we said, they are going back to the collectible glass souvenir glasses.


Make sure you get your tickets! The highly sought after VIP tickets are officially sold out, but general admission tickets are still available.

General Admission are available until April 30 at 8:00AM (or until the event sells out)
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Tickets can be purchased online or in-person at:
Boundary Bay Brewery
Chuckanut Brewery
Wander Brewing Co.
Aslan Brewery
Kulshan Brewery
Community Food Co-ops (Downtown and Cordata locations)

April Brews Day Brunch

The weekend isn’t over until you’ve experienced the April Brews Day Brunch the next morning at Boundary Bay Brewery. This has become a great tradition and, like all things Boundary does, it’s going to be an awesome event!

The brunch is family friendly – all ages welcome!
Sunday, May 1st – the morning after April Brews Day
10am – 2pm
Tickets cost $10 at the door
Music by The Katie Gray and The Elopements
Beer available for purchase
Auction items include a Swedish massage from the Chrysalis, beers socks from Mod Sock, and our classic bucket of PNW micro brews ​