POCATELLO — The floodgates have once again opened for the 14th Annual Gate City Brewfest in downtown Pocatello, providing area residents with a chance to sample a multitude of beers and beverages from East Idaho and beyond.

Guests of the annual event will be able to visit 17 participating restaurants, bars, breweries and pubs in Historic Downtown Pocatello where local and Intermountain West distributors will be on site to serve up a selection of delicious ciders, stouts, porters, pale ales and other pallet pleasing drinks.

The new downtown brewery, The Martlet, 218 N. Main St., will be hosting and serving up a selection of their beers for the first time with other additions including a few new ciders and seltzers from popular brands like Happy Dad.

Brewfest will run from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m. on March 8 and advanced tickets are currently available for pre-purchase for $30 from gatecitybrewfest.com.

Online ticket sales will close at 5 p.m. on March 7.

For anyone interested in a bit of prior day pre-gaming, the local taproom Wanderlust, 1799 Hurley Drive in north Pocatello, will be hosting a pre-party from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. March 7. Brewfest tickets will be available for purchase for $30 at Wanderlust during this March 7 event, at which official Gate City Brewfest pint cups will be sold.

Tickets purchased the day of Brewfest will be $40.

“We will have three ticket locations: Center Street Clubhouse, Pocatello-Chubbuck Chamber of Commerce and the Historic Downtown Pocatello office at Lookout Point,” said Stephanie Palagi, executive director of Historic Downtown Pocatello. “Tickets go on sale at noon and are $40 at the door. All of the tickets include unlimited pours at the participating locations while supplies last. There is free trolley ride transportation. We have five trolley stops to help folks move around the area. Shuttl will have vehicles available at the Chamber of Commerce office for folks who would like to shuttle to and from the event for safety.”

Live music will also be provided at a few locations throughout the afternoon and into the evening with Lou Ann Berry and Jason Green performing at Off the Rails and Hired Gun Company, Lane Bowen, Spike Goggins, Josh Langston, Shawn Barnby, Jake Kurtival and Evan Normic playing at The First National Bar. DJ Ontic and DJ Dan will perform sets at Center Street Clubhouse.

Menu specials and other events will also be going on at downtown businesses throughout Brewfest.

“Our Brewfest is really unique due to the fact that it is a beer stroll,” Palagi said. “Typically, when you go into a community for a beer tasting event, it’s either in one big event center or it’s under one big tent in one location. Ours is unique in the fact that we have people out walking from location to location and experiencing the downtown area, visiting our shops, our boutiques and our bookstores, or they might grab a cup of coffee along the way. It really is a chance to experience all of the unique opportunities for shopping and dining that downtown has to offer.”

The 14th Annual Gate City Brewfest would not be possible without the support of sponsor organizations like the Pocatello-Chubbuck Chamber of Commerce, Servpro, Denny’s Wrecker Service, Avcenter, The Idaho State Journal, Watkins Distributing, Tec Distributing, Harden Beverage and Craig Stein Beverage along with friends at Wanderlust and Visit Pocatello.

For more information about the event, visit gatecitybrewfest.com.