Brewgaloo, one of NC's largest craft beer festivals, welcomes 90 brewers

Of that beer, $22.3 billion came from the craft beer market - so it's probably not surprising that Saturday's Brewgaloo N.C. Craft Beer Festival in downtown Raleigh was jam-packed with more enthusiastic beer-drinking fans than ever before.

Brewgaloo 2016 began with a "Brewgaloo Block Party" on Friday evening. The event featured 35 craft brewers, and guests paid one price to enter and taste the beers of their choosing.

Then, on Saturday, Brewgaloo took its place as the state's largest craft beer festival, according to organizers, as 90 breweries lined Fayetteville Street alongside more than 40 food trucks and 14 live bands.

The crowd was vast, and beer-lovers visited stand after stand to enjoy their favorite local beverages by the pint or by the taste. All the featured breweries come from right here in N.C., and many of them come from right down the road.

Some of the breweries represent Cary, Raleigh, Durham and Holly Springs, while others visit the Triangle from places like Asheville, Wilmington, Hillsborough, Blowing Rock and Saxapahaw.

Many of these breweries look forward to their yearly trips to Raleigh and to the new fans they meet at the huge Brewgaloo festival every year.

Brewgaloo is only five years old, but it will continue to grow along with the craft beer market.

When the festival first started, it filled only a small block of City Plaza with fewer than 20 brewers. This year, the 90 breweries extend all the way down the street to the State Capitol.