The 9th annual Bend Brewfest kicks off next week and runs from Thursday the 16th through Saturday the 18th. It takes place at the Les Schwab Amphitheater as always, and it’s been growing steadily each year—for this year there are 51 breweries serving up some 125 beers between the regular taps (two from each brewery) and the X-Taps!

The Brewfest runs from 3 to 11pm on Thursday and Friday, and noon to 11 on Saturday. Kids can be there until 7pm each night. Admission is free but to taste beer you’ll need to purchase the $10 package which includes the tasting mug and four tokens (and additional tokens are $1 each, sold in packages of five). And there will be food vendors on hand too.

It will be a lot of fun, and be sure to check out the X-Tap schedule—these are the specialty and limited beers that will be going on tap at various times throughout the Brewfest. The Brewfest is also being really good about posting the X-Tap beers on their Twitter account so be sure to follow that so you stay up-to-the-minute.

Now—volunteers! The Brewfest is still in need of a bunch of volunteers (another 150 or so), particularly for the last few shifts on Saturday. In return for volunteering, you’ll get a free mug and tokens—i.e., free beer! But you can’t drink before your volunteer shift, so you might be wondering how it would work to volunteer Saturday night but not have time to drink after your shift (which might be the end of the fest). The answer is: You can pick up your mug and tokens ahead of time and use them the day or two before! (This is straight from Old Mill District’s Marketing Director, Noelle Fredland whom I ran into at Alive After Five this week.)

So volunteering is a good way to get free beer and have a lot of fun at the Brewfest at the same time. If you can do it, go sign up here!

My friend and fellow Hack Bend contributer Jen volunteered at the Brewfest last year, and wrote a fantastic post for tips and tricks that you will want to read: she explains how everything works really well and it’s a good reminder that volunteers are just that—volunteers. Be really nice to them, as they are doing you a big favor by pouring you beer! And remember they don’t represent the brewery or the beer they are assigned to pour and they just as likely won’t know much about it or about the other beers pouring.

This year’s Brewfest is going to be great, so go, have fun, and volunteer if you can!