Nevada’s largest and most respected craft beer festival, started by Las Vegas beer enthusiasts, has been sold. Another Vegas beer gathering, also a staple of the city’s festival calendar, is disappearing as a result of the sale.
On Tuesday, Motley Brews announced the sale of its Vegas portfolio — Great Vegas Festival of Beer and Downtown Brew Festival — to Brothers Molloy Events, which will produce the Great Vegas Festival going forward. Downtown Brew Festival will be folded into Great Vegas to create a single expanded event.
Brothers Molloy produces large beer festivals across the U.S. For the past three years, it has operated the festivals alongside Motley Brews.
“This felt like the natural next step for the festival,” Brian Chapin, founder of Motley Brews, said in the announcement. “We’ve spent years building Great Vegas into what it is today. It was incredible to watch it — and the craft brew scene — grow year after year … Bringing everything together into one flagship event creates something bigger, more focused, and ultimately more impactful for the local community.”
Great Vegas Festival of Beer, founded in 2011, completed its 2026 run in late March. The most recent Downtown Brew Festival, founded in 2013, took place last September.
Contact Johnathan L. Wright at [email protected]. Follow @JLWTaste on Instagram.