The Big Texas Beer Fest returns to Dallas’ Fair Park Auto Building next weekend. The event was founded in 2012, and has raised almost $50,000 for the North Texas Food Bank since inception. Named as Dallas Observer’s best beer festival two years in a row, and Blitz Weekly’s best festival, this year’s event expects to draw 8,000+ attendees across 2 days. The festival is one of the Southwest’s largest beer events, and will feature over 500 beers from 120 breweries.

In an effort to make the experience better each year, the festival has partnered with Noble Rey Brewing Company and Free Play Richardson (a vintage arcade) to create a vintage ‘Arcade Alley’ where attendees can relive favorite arcade games of their youth. In addition to award-winning beers from all over the world, the festival will also feature 11 local food trucks, local and regional bands such as Matt Tedder (formerly on The Voice), and attendees can also samples artisan food and non-alcoholic beverages from local vendors such as Dallas Caramel Company, LUCK and other neat vendors. Music and food trucks can be found in the outdoor food and music pavilion.

The festival’s hours are Friday, March 31st from 7:00pm to 11:00pm, and Saturday, April 1st from 2:00-6:30pm. Each VIP session is set to begin 1 hour prior to the times noted above. Parking will be available at Fair Park for $10, but it is recommended that people use the DART rail, or use their transportation partner Lyft. The DART rail has a stop on the Green Line at Fair Park, dropping attendees just steps away from the venue.

Tickets for the festival are available at www.bigtexasbeerfest.com. Saturday’s VIP tickets have been sold out for months, but everything else is available. General admission tickets begin at $35 and Friday VIP tickets can be had for $60. VIP tickets enable attendees to gain entrance to the event one hour early to enjoy all the rare and unique beers with minimal lines. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit local charity, the North Texas Food Bank.

For all of the details, including participating breweries, vendors, and much more, visit the official event website here.