Hey, remember a couple of months ago when I confidently, naively announced that the WeldWerks Invitational was definitely happening this October? Well, much like that new Jeopardy host, I wish I could scrub the internet of my past mistakes. But alas, they live on, and I’m sad to tell you that due to rapidly rising COVID cases, the WeldWerks Invitational 2021 has been postponed until 2022.

The writing had been on the wall for a few weeks now, as bellwether festivals have already begun falling, such as the 2021 Denver Rare Beer Tasting and most recently the Big Beers Belgians and Barleywines Festival. All three events have explicitly cited growing concerns around public health conditions as the Delta variant of the coronavirus has caused a significant spike in cases and hospitalizations. However, the WeldWerks crew also noted a desire not to diminish the integrity of the festival. After reaching out to all participating breweries, the WeldWerks team received concerns from nearly half of the confirmed breweries about traveling and sending staff to participate during this latest pandemic spike.

“Having the makers and the doers from some of the most esteemed breweries across the country be able to pour their best while mingling with beer lovers—that’s what makes the Invitational so special,” says WeldWerks Director of Experience Jake Goodman. “Once we realized that we’d be losing certain aspects of the festival, in addition to the relevant safety concerns, we decided to postpone the festival so that it can be enjoyed to its full effect the following year.”

“The metric that we always measure when it comes to the Invitational is preserving the overall experience of every person involved,” says Goodman. “We’re saddened that we couldn’t pull it off this year but we look forward to an amazing Invitational next year.”

No doubt, I was excited to ring in a return to normalcy this October by lavishing in 18% Pastry Stouts from the best breweries in the country. But we’ll all have to sit tight, wear our damn masks, and eagerly await a return in 2022 instead. Ticketholders for the canceled 2021 festival will automatically get first dibs on tickets for next year. And in the meantime, since WeldWerks is giving full refunds to all ticket holders shortly, there’s nothing stopping any of us from holding our own personal 2021 Invitational at home. (This is me giving you permission to enjoy a few extra 18% Pastry Stouts at 11am this weekend.)

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