Patrons enjoy the 2018 Bend Brewfest. Due to amphitheater construction, the 2022 event will take place on the east side of the river, closer to the heart of the shopping district.

After a multi-year absence due to the pandemic, two of Bend’s bigger, most beloved events return to Bend this weekend: Bend Brewfest and the Pole Pedal Paddle.

Though different in nature — one’s a celebration of ale with dozens of breweries pouring, the other a multi-discipline race featuring skiing, cycling, running and paddling — both events will draw thousands to the Old Mill District this weekend, where Brewfest will be happening Friday and Saturday, and the PPP participants will make haste Saturday for the finish line, crossing from the east side of the river via the footbridge to the finish on the west side of Deschutes River.

In the case of Brewfest, the 65 breweries will be spread from one end of the Old Mill to the other at the shopping district’s plazas along the riverfront bike path. As for PPP, a popular, longtime Bend race that involves skiing at Mt. Bachelor, followed by cycling, running, paddling and the sprint to the finish.

Bend Brewfest

One big change at Brewfest is moving to May from its traditional August slot.

“August here in Bend is a blast, but there’s so much going on that we really don’t need Brewfest there. We’re going to have concerts, there’s stuff going on all around town,” said Beau Eastes, marketing director for the Old Mill. “By moving Brewfest to May and pairing it up with PPP, I think it’s going to be a really fun, new, iconic Bend weekend.”

Because of construction on the Hayden Homes Amphitheater as it ramps up for an expanded concert season, Brewfest will take place on the river trail on the east side of the Deschutes River, which flows through the Old Mill between the outdoor concert venue and the shopping district.

The more than five dozen participating breweries will be pouring in excess of 100 beers, ciders and wine at four areas spaced out along the river trail from the north to south end of the Old Mill.

Starting out on the north end, near Hot Pond Loop, there will be somewhere between 15 and 20 taps, according to Eastes.

“Hot Pond Loop will probably have the most taps — that’s also where you’ll get your mug and tickets,” Eastes said.

Heading south, there’ll be 15 or more taps on the grassy strip between Sephora and City Home, and the same amount at Center Plaza, the large open area between Anthony’s and The Gap.

Finally, just to the south will be the fourth pouring area, the X-Tap, where small batch and experimental brews will be poured at the small plaza between Lululemon Athletica and Vanilla Urban Threads.

“I think the more hardcore beer connoisseurs will probably go to the X-Tap and start there,” Easte said, noting that with 35 X-Tap beers, this year will have more than in the past.

Speaking on Brewfest as a whole, Eastes said, “It’s cool because I think there will be a little bit of a sense of discovery. Each place is going to have different beers. We’ve got breweries from all over Central Oregon, but also Washington, Idaho … California. It’s going to be fun.”

Pole Pedal Paddle

That last sentence will no doubt apply to the 2022 Pole Pedal Paddle, where things will look a little different this year, too. For starters, or should we say finishers, the sprint at the end of the race will now be 1-mile long.

“Yeah, sorry,” said a laughing Molly Cogswell-Kelly, events director at Mt. Bachelor Sports Education Foundation, the nonprofit that organizes the annual race. “I don’t know if it’s really considered a sprint anymore, once you reach a mile.”

While the race begins with the skiing and cycling events — including a mountain bike leg for those teams that opted for it over the nordic the best bet for the casual spectator will be in the Old Mill, where one can watch the boat leg as well as the last running stage. Runners will be making their way up the paved path from Farewell Bend Park, paralleling the river’s flow downstream, past the X-Tap and near Center Plaza as they cross the bridge to the finish line that awaits on the other side, located in the grassy area known as the West Event area.

“We’ll have beer and wine and cocktails also at our event, as we do every year,” Cogswell-Kelly said. “Honestly, the finish area is going to be amazing. I like it better than where we used to have it in the amphitheater because you’re not isolated from the race.”

From that vantage, she said, “You can actually now see two things at once. I’m going to keep it kind of open so there won’t be vendors on the side blocking the river. … You can see people across the river doing the sprint, and then you can see people on the water as well. So that’s going to be good, good viewing. And of course, the footbridge, the flag bridge, in the Old Mill is always a great spot to be.”

Just upstream on the other side of

Columbia Drive also makes exciting viewing as runners transition to the paddling stage.

“The boat put-in area in Riverbend Park, that’s always a really fun area to watch that kind of exchange, because it’s kind of intense,” Cogswell-Kelly said, who anticipates the event will be thrilling for participants and spectators alike with an estimated 1,900 participants registered.

“That would be more people than we had in 2019,’” Cogswell-Kelly said. “Every communication I get is like, ‘Oh my god, we’re so happy it’s back,’ ‘We’re so happy it’s back.”

What: Bend Brewfest

When: Noon to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Where: Old Mill District, 450 SW Powerhouse Drive, Bend

Cost: $50 at the gate for admission one or both days includes mug and 10 tasting tokens; additional tokens are five for $10

Contact: bendbrewfest.com

What: 2022 Selco Pole Pedal Paddle

When: Staggered start times beginning at 9:15 a.m.; racers begin arriving at finish line around 11 a.m.

Where: Multiple locations starting at Mt. Bachelor and concluding in the West Event area of the Old Mill, just west of the footbridge

Contact: pppbend.com