Hop & Heritage Festival

25th Annual

Hop & Heritage Festival

Fresh hop beer and the 25th annual harvest celebration in the historic Hop Capital of the World.

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Independence, Oregon • September 26, 2026 • Fresh Hop Fiesta at Parallel 45 • All ages welcome

Headline event

The Fresh Hop Fiesta at Parallel 45 Brewing.

Twenty Pacific Northwest breweries. One afternoon. Fresh hop beers you can only drink this weekend of the year.

Fresh hop beers are brewed with hops picked within hours of the brew. Never dried, never stored. The window to make them is a few weeks in September, and the window to drink them at peak is shorter still. This is the only weekend in Oregon they pour all in one place, in the town that grew them.

Where
Parallel 45 Brewing
When
12:00 PM – 6:00 PM
(VIP admission at 11:00 AM)
Who
21+ for beer service.
Under-21 welcome at every other part of the festival.
Tickets Coming Soon

What to expect

One day. Many ways to celebrate.

The Hop & Heritage Festival runs all day across downtown Independence on Saturday, September 26, 2026. The Fresh Hop Fiesta at Parallel 45 is the headline beer event. Around it, a full afternoon of reasons to spend the day downtown. Most of them free, all of them open to every age.

Downtown Passport

A self-guided passport route through participating Independence businesses. Pick up your passport at the festival, wander downtown at your own pace, and collect stamps from each stop as you go.

Where
Participating downtown businesses
When
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Participating businesses announcing soon.

Vendor Marketplace

Local makers, artisans, and food vendors line C Street for the afternoon. Shop small, grab a bite, and support the downtown businesses that make Independence what it is.

Where
C Street
When
12:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Buskers on the Street

Live music floats across downtown all afternoon. Four rotating musicians stationed at different spots along Main Street and the surrounding blocks. Wander, follow the sound, and catch a different set around every corner.

Where
Throughout Downtown Independence
When
12:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Lineup announcing soon.

Cornhole Tournament

A neighborhood cornhole tournament threaded into the day, hosted by the Independence Elks. Sign-up details and bracket information will be posted ahead of the festival.

Where
Downtown Independence
When
Schedule announcing soon
Tickets Coming Soon

Heritage

Why Independence is the historic Hop Capital of the World.

In the 1930s and '40s, Independence grew more hops per acre than almost anywhere on earth. At peak season, a town of roughly a thousand residents swelled to forty or fifty thousand. Migrant pickers, families, and workers came for the harvest and built a culture around it. The original Hop Fiesta ran for a month every fall.

That history is not a footnote. Historian Peter Kopp documents it in Hoptopia (UC Press, 2016) and the Oregon Encyclopedia. The Oregon State University archives hold photographs, oral histories, and harvest records from the era. Coleman Agriculture's Alluvial Hop Farm, minutes from downtown, is a direct continuation of that legacy, and the site of a current OSU hop terroir study.

The Hop & Heritage Festival is how Independence keeps that story close to the ground. The Fresh Hop Fiesta is how we pour it.

The lineup

Twenty Pacific Northwest breweries. Fresh hop beers at peak season.

Every beer at the Fresh Hop Fiesta is brewed with hops harvested in the days just before the festival. Our lineup features both long-trusted names in Oregon brewing and breweries newer to the fresh-hop tradition, all pouring at Parallel 45 Brewing.

Lineup status

Brewery partners confirm in late summer, once fresh-hop availability is set.

Join the waitlist below to get the full lineup the moment it drops.

Join the waitlist
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Tickets

Pick your pour.

Three ticket tiers covering everything from early VIP access to general admission. Under-21 attendees are welcome at every part of the festival and do not require a ticket.

Most access

First Pour VIP

Early 11 AM access to the Fresh Hop Fiesta before general admission. Commemorative glassware and additional tasting tokens included.

  • 11 AM early admission
  • Commemorative glassware
  • Extra tasting tokens
  • Access to all downtown festival events

Tasting Package

Entry to the Fresh Hop Fiesta plus a set of tasting tokens to sample beers from the twenty-brewery lineup.

  • Noon admission to the Fresh Hop Fiesta
  • Commemorative glassware
  • Tasting tokens included
  • Access to all downtown festival events

General Admission

Entry to the festival grounds and access to the Downtown Passport, live music, vendor marketplace, and cornhole tournament.

  • Festival grounds entry
  • Access to all downtown festival events
  • Tasting tokens available for purchase onsite

Prices and sale date announcing soon.

Join the waitlist

Tickets sell through Zeffy, a fee-free nonprofit ticketing platform.

Plan your visit

Plan your visit to Independence, Oregon.

Downtown Independence sits on the Willamette River in Polk County, roughly fifteen minutes from Salem, an hour and ten minutes from Portland, and thirty-five minutes from Corvallis. It's a walkable downtown. You can park once and reach every part of the festival on foot.

Getting here

  • From Salem

    15 minutes via OR-22 W and Independence Highway

  • From Portland

    1 hour 10 minutes via I-5 S and OR-22 W

  • From Corvallis

    35 minutes via OR-99W N

  • From Eugene

    1 hour 30 minutes via I-5 N

  • From McMinnville wine country

    40 minutes via OR-99W S

Where to stay

The Independence Hotel sits directly on the Willamette River, steps from downtown and the festival footprint.

The Trace Hotel is a short walk from Main Street.

Additional lodging options are available in Salem (15 min) and Monmouth (5 min).

Parking and accessibility

Parking and accessibility details will be posted closer to festival day.

About the organizer

About the Independence Downtown Association.

The Hop & Heritage Festival is organized by the Independence Downtown Association (IDA), a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on keeping downtown Independence alive, walkable, and connected to its history. Proceeds from the festival support downtown Independence year-round. Small-business programs, community events, and the projects that keep Main Street vibrant.

Learn more about IDA

Sponsors

In partnership with our community.

The Hop & Heritage Festival is made possible by the sponsors below, alongside Independence businesses, hop growers, and volunteers who show up year after year.

Gold sponsors

Community sponsors

  • [Sponsor TBD]
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  • [Sponsor TBD]

Additional sponsors announcing soon.

Interested in sponsoring?
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FAQ

Good to know.

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Stay in the loop

Be first to know when tickets go live.

Two emails total. One when tickets open. One when the brewery lineup drops. That's the whole list.

Get in touch to join

Or email info@downtownindependence.com to be added.