PHOTOS: The faces of Penticton's Fest of Ale!

Sid Ruhland knows all about the 28-year-old craft beer extravaganza known as Fest of Ale, running this Friday and Saturday at the Penticton Trade & Convention Centre.

Ruhland is the founder and now brewmaster and GM of Oliver's celebrated Firehall Brewery, and the Fest has been on his radar right from the start.

"I love Fest of Ale," he said. "We were into it right away when we started the brewery.

"It’s a time when all the brewers and folks in the industry can gather and talk shop, nerd out about beer, discuss what winter was like and what summer will be like, and talk about everyone's experimentations."

Ruhland, who's pretty well known in the industry and credits Penticton's Cannery Brewing for helping him out in the early days, believes the festival has seen an impressive evolution in its clientele.

"Definitely an evolution," he said. "Back in the day, customers would ask, 'Hey, do you have any real beer?' meaning mass produced domestic beer.

"But now you have people coming up and asking about flavour, asking about malt, asking about the hops. They're not here just to get drunk and put alcohol in their face. It’s about the taste and the craft and the artisanship."

These days Ruhland has the Grizzly Adams thing going. In other words, the guy's beard is a bit of a monster.

But apparently there's a method to his madness.

"Well, it started with what I call winterbeard," he said. "Then we got into the beer industry and started the brewery and coming to Fest of Ale to pour beers.

"So for most of us around here, Fest of Ale is symbolic of the beginning of the summer beer season. The flowers are out, the birds are out, the people are out. So it was a logical end to winterbeard."

The tradition began at a Cannery Brewing after party, where Ruhland's chin rug underwent a group shave of sorts. And every year since he loses all or most of his beard at Fest of Ale.

Only now he'd like to take it to the next level.

"Every year it comes up that we should do it more officially and with more people involved as a fundraiser and an official part of the Fest of Ale weekend," he said.

"I pitched it to them and it looks good for next year. A bunch of brewers growing beards for some type of fundraising. I think if I out the call out, it would happen."

Also at the 2025 Fest of Ale is its event planner, Sarah Taylor. And she'd love to see a mega-size crowd show up for Saturday's six-hour finale.

"We have amazing food, amazing entertainment and amazing beers as usual," she said. "This year we also have options like non-alcoholic beer, seltzer, gluten free beer and more.

"We have everything. Fifty beverage vendors, 12 food vendors, several speciality vendors. We have breweries from as far as Smithers and Vancouver Island."

Taylor also wanted to emphasize the not-for-profit nature of the event.

"We give every dime away," she said. "For 28 years we've been raising money for local charitable causes.

"I just want everyone out there to know the non-profit element. It's a huge fundraiser for our entire community."

The 2025 edition of the Fest of Ale begins today (Saturday) at noon and finishes up at 6 PM. Last-minute tickets ($50) are avialable at the door.