Beer festival versus Folk festival

Maybe it is changing, but the Berlin Beer Festival is somewhat of an outlier for Germany, I do not recall many fests where the focus is a large variety of beers. Of course this is mainly due to the "International" aspect of the festival and the ability to bring in many styles and types of beers beyond the German standards.

Maybe the Bierborse is the closest, haven't been yet, but seems to be a traveling beer fest, changing locations. Of the traditional fests that I have yet to visit, the Schutzenfest in Hannover sounds interesting, different at least.

Beer and fests are a traditional part of the German culture but they are nornally in a shorter time-frame and more local compared to a Volksfest. So for all people searching something more local and off-beaten-routes a good recommendation.

In Germany easily over 2,000 sorts of beer are made based on around two dozen main beer styles. But for example in Munich alone a beer fest would not make much sense because just 6 breweries and only 2 beer styles (and different sorts on these) - even Bavaria state has the most breweries of German states but none of these you will find on Oktoberfest because they exclude all non-Munich located breweries. Bamberg county with over 50 breweries started a new beer fest in 2019: the Bambierla. They make very clear that this is not a folk festival but three weeks of beer culture events.

Info: Berlin has 70 breweries, Cologne and Hamburg have over 20 and in both cities more beer styles are brewed.

Folk fests are traditionally focussing on entertainment - more the chracter of a mobile part-time amusement park with some local providers / often restaurants. The interpretaion of "folk" are very regional and manifold, often based on a church fest, e.g. Kirchweih or Kirmes.

A beer festival per se I have never been to in Germany, but a "Volksfest" I have been there and a "Schützenfest" in Westfalen a couple of times. True, they are different.

Fantastic Berlin beer...Schultheis and Berliner Weisse ( mit rot).

I was just at the Beer Festival in Berlin this past Sunday (Aug 4, 2019), and it wasn't just beer from Germany -- there were beers from many countries. I had a Czech one, and I saw stalls from Ireland, England, Russia, etc. The small glass (mug) was 3.5 euros, with a line indicating 0.2 L. The beers I sampled (at different stands) were 2.5 euros each (for 0.2 L); I didn't price-check each stall, but I think that was typical. The picture I took of the place selling cannibis-infused beer also said 2.5 euros for 0.2 L. If you don't want to buy your own glass, the stalls may have ones you can use -- for a deposit (3 euros at one stand). They might run out of glasses, though... my wife and I shared the Czech beer, because the stand only had one glass left. One other thing which I didn't really expect: the Berlin festival, at least on Sunday around 5:30-6:30pm wasn't just young men: there were people of all ages - including kids. I haven't been to beer festivals elsewhere to compare, but it was a fun time for my wife and me!